El Río Open Water Swim

Event information

About the event

The El Río Open Water Swim crosses the stretch of sea that separates Lanzarote from La Graciosa: 2,600 metres from the beach of Bajo el Risco, at the foot of the Risco de Famara, to the one at Caleta del Sebo. It is the only race on the island calendar swum from one island to another, and that is why it is the first to fill up. It is run by the Servicio Insular de Deportes of the Cabildo de Lanzarote, and the 2026 edition is set for Saturday 19 September.

Course and distance

The swim is in open water, inside the Chinijo Archipelago Marine Reserve. The 2,600 metres are the published reference and the organisers can adjust the line according to the tide. Start on the beach of Bajo el Risco, in Lanzarote; finish on the sand at Caleta del Sebo, in La Graciosa. There is a cut-off: anyone still in the water an hour after the first swimmer has finished must withdraw.

The boat logistics

This is the part most people underestimate. Everything before the start happens at the harbour of Caleta de Sebo, in La Graciosa: that is where you collect your number, where the group warm-up takes place and where you board. The organisers’ boats carry the swimmers out to the start line in Lanzarote, and from there you swim back.

Which means you have to be in La Graciosa early. Líneas Romero runs special ferries from Órzola on race day, at 08:30, 09:15, 09:30 and 10:00. Number collection closes at 10:30, with passport or ID card.

Entry, prices and wetsuits

Entries opened on 17 June 2026 and ran until 31 July: 450 adult places, 50 junior places and 100 in the Chinij@, the free children’s race swum in La Graciosa. All of them sold out in 2026.

General entry costs 21 EUR, the junior entry 11 EUR. The minimum age is 14, and first-time junior entrants must show three open-water races longer than 1,000 metres. No federation licence is required.

Wetsuit use goes by water temperature:

• Infantil and Junior: compulsory below 18 °C, banned from 18 °C.
• Máster up to 55 and Adaptada: compulsory at 17.9 °C or lower, optional between 18 and 19.9 °C, banned from 20 °C.
• Over 55: optional.

You swim with the numbered cap supplied by the organisers, the chip on the right leg and the race number written on the right arm.

Who won in 2025

The 2025 edition was swum on 27 September with around five hundred participants. Álvaro Cabrera won ahead of Kimbo Vallejo and Herminio Fernández, and Natalia Sasu ahead of Sheila Pulido and Nora Delgado. No times or clubs were published.

Planning your race

You watch this one from La Graciosa: the finish is on the beach at Caleta del Sebo itself, so anyone coming along does not need to leave the village. Book the ferry ticket in advance.

The date is not entirely fixed either. If the sea does not cooperate, the organisers can delay the start, move the swim to Sunday 20 September or call it off. For questions, elrio@lanzarotedeportes.com and 928 810100, extension 2186.

The open-water calendar continues with the San Ginés Open Water Swim, second round of the XII Copa, after the La Tiñosa Open Water Swim opened the series on 1 August.