The swim is an approximate 2.5 mile challenging swim. The swim starts in front of the Long Sands Beach Bath House, located near 179 Long Beach Avenue. Swimmers swim north east out towards Sohier Point/Nubble Lighthouse. Swimmers pass through "the gut" between Sohier Point and the Nubble Lighthouse. Once through 'the gut,' swimmers head west towards the finish area at Short Sands Beach. Because this swim is around a peninsula, swimmers are typically subjected to two sets of swimming conditions depending on the wind direction and weather. You will swim the first part of the swim into a flooding tide, and the second part you will swim with the flooding tide. This is an open ocean swim with ocean swells, and cold ocean temperatures.