Traversée internationale du lac St-Jean

Inductee (Honour Organisation of the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame

Petar Stoychev after winning one of his unprecedented 11 victories at Traversée internationale du lac Saint-Jean on the cover of the book Les folles histoires de la traversée du Lac St-Jean written by Jean-Pierre Girard

Petar Stoychev won the Traversée internationale du lac St-Jean 11 consecutive times

Christine Jennings and Eva Fabian competing at the Traversée internationale du lac St-Jean

Early stages of the Traversée internationale du lac St-Jean, heading towards Roberval, photo by Lucie Drolet

Traversée internationale du lac St-Jean is a professional and amateur open water swimming competition held in lac St-Jean in Roberval, Québec, Canada.

This event has been long considered to be one of the greatest professional marathon swims in history with an excellent organization that focuses on the athletes. The entire community celebrates the exploits and abilities of all of the athletes, from the fastest to the slowest, in the competition usually held in late July.

Each summer since 1955, the Traversée internationale du lac St-Jean attracts the world’s elite professional open water swimmers to Roberval and is part of the FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix, an annual professional marathon swimming circuit, and is held in Lac St-Jean. It is now part of the WOWSA UltraMarathon Swim Series as of July 2022.

Traversée internationale du lac St-Jean includes open water swimming competitions, outdoor shows, pyro-musical fireworks, a Winners’ Parade, family-oriented activities, and the traditional 'Supper in the Streets' sponsored by Loto-Québec. This is an enormous outdoor banquet bringing together 10,000 people at a table more than a kilometer in length set in the middle of town.

Traversée internationale du lac St-Jean has been honored by the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame as an Honour Organisation. It is one of the World's Top 100 Open Water Swims.

Canadian Christine Cossette completed an unprecedented two-way crossing of lac St-Jean in 1984 that led to several years where two-way crossings of lac St-Jean were the norm.

Location

lac St-Jean in Roberval, Quebec, Canada

Distance

32 km

2019 Schedule

20 July: 1 km, 2 km, 5 km, 10 km Uniprix Maîtres
21 July: 10 km FINA/HOSA Marathon Swim World Series/CNSG
23 July: 25m, 50m, 100m, 1 km relay Défi Plouf
26 July: 10 km Marathon de la relève Rio Tinto
27 July: 32 km Traversée internationale du lac St-Jean

2022 UltraMarathon Swim Series Events

It is part of the inaugural 2022 UltraMarathon Swim Series:

June: 36 km Maratona del Golfo Capri-Napoli from Capri to Napoli, Italy
July: 14.5 km Authentic Marathon Swim in Pefki Evia, Greece
July: 15.5 km Trans Tahoe Solo in Lake Tahoe, California, USA
July: 32 km Traversée internationale du lac St-Jean in lac St-Jean, Quebec, Canada
October: 10 km, 20 km, 30 km La Isla Open Water in Zimapán Dam, Querétaro, Mexico

2012 Schedule

21 July: Solo crossing of lac St-Jean (42 km) for amateur swimmers
21 July: 1 - 2 - 5 km Uniprix (Masters and Age Groups)
26 July: FINA 10 km (leg of the FINA 10km Marathon Swimming World Cup)
26 July: Rio Tinto Alcan Youth Marathon
28 July: FINA 42 km - 58th Traversée internationale du lac St-Jean

Prize Money

US$40,000

Sponsor Federation

Swimming/Natation Canada and organiser La Traversée Internationale du lac St-Jean under the direction of Eric Juneau

Type

Lake

Event Information

Month: 26 July 2014

Website: www.traversee.qc.ca

Water Temp: under 20°C (68°F)

Class: Pro

Wetsuit: No

Director: Jérémie Bonneau

FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix Series sites

The FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix series consists of races in:

Rosario (Argentina), locally called Maratón Acuática Internactional Ciudad de Rosario
Santa Fe-Coronda (Argentina), locally called Maratón Acuática Internacional Santa Fe - Coronda
Viedma (Argentina), locally called La Patagones Viedma
Jabelah (Syria – cancelled in 2011, 2012, 2014)
Hernandarias-Paraná (Argentina), locally called Maratón Hernandarias-Paraná
Cancún (Mexico), locally called Maratón Cancún
Capri-Napoli (Italy), locally called Maratona del Golfo Capri-Napoli
Lac St-Jean (Canada), locally called Traversée Internationale du lac St-Jean
Lac Memphrémagog (Canada), locally called Traversée Internationale du lac Memphrémagog
Šabac (Serbia), locally called Šabac Swim Marathon
Ohrid Lake (Macedonia), locally called Ohrid Lake Swim Marathon

2018 FINA Marathon Swim World Series

It is the site of the sixth leg of the 2018 FINA Marathon Swim World Series, professional 10 km marathon swims:

Doha, Qatar on 16 March
Seychelles, Seychelles on 20 May
Setúbal Bay, Portugal on 9 June
Balatonfüred, Hungary on 16 June
Lac St-Jean, Canada on 26 July, part of the Traversee international du Lac St-Jean
Lac Mégantic, Canada on 11 August, part of the Traversee international du Lac Mégantic
Chun'an, China on 16 September
Taiwan on 22 September

2015/HOSA FINA 10K Marathon Swimming World Cup Series

1st race - 6 February - La Patagones Viedma (Argentina), part of Maraton Patagones-Viedma International Open Water Swim
2nd race - 14 March - Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
4rd race - 18 April - New Caledonia, France
4th race - 2 May - Cancún (Mexico)
5th race - 20 June - Balatonfured, Hungary
6th race - 26 June - Setúbal Bay (Portugal)
6th race - 24 July - Lac St-Jean (Canada), part of the Traversée international du Lac St-Jean
8th race - 41 July - Lac Magog (Canada), part of the Traversée Internationale du lac Memphrémagog
9th race - 8 August - Lac Mégantic (Canada), part of the Traversée international du Lac Mégantic
10th race - 12 October - Chun'an (China)
11th race - 16 October - Hong Kong (Hong Kong)

Amateur Open Water Swimming Events

- 1K, 2K and 5K Uniprix competitions (Masters and Age Groups)
- FINA 10KM Marathon Swimming World Cup race
- FINA 42KM Open Water Swimming Grand Prix or la Traversée internationale du lac St-Jean

FINA Open Water Swim World Events

The event is part of the FINA Open Water Swim World Events, a one-loop race series held before the FINA World Cup races for amateur and masters swimmers.

1st race - 6 February - La Patagones Viedma (Argentina), part of Maraton Patagones-Viedma International Open Water Swim
2nd race - 18 June - Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
4rd race - 24 July - Lac St-Jean (Canada), part of the Traversee international du Lac St-Jean
4th race - 12 August - Lac Mégantic (Canada), part of the Traversee international du Lac Mégantic
5th race - 9 October - Chun'an (China)
6th race - 16 October - Hong Kong (Hong Kong)