The Global Swim Series (GSS) has announced that Ryan Lochte has joined the open water swim mass participation event series. 12-time Olympic medallist, Lochte will kick off a new ‘Race The Legends’ event.
This event format will allow swimmers from all over the world to participate in virtual and real-world races with many of the greatest swimmers of all time. These will be held in select GSS open water races locations around the globe.
Ryan Lochte is a legend in the sport of swimming. The second most decorated Olympic swimmer of all time, with 12 medals, including 6 gold, 3 silver, 3 bronze. He has 91 medals in major international competitions, 39 world championship titles, multiple world records and multiple Swimmer of the Year awards.
‘The goal of the GSS is to promote and grow swimming around the world. This is done by offering a fun, healthy, competitive, and adventurous race experience for swimmers of all ages and abilities. Ryan is the perfect swimmer and personality to exemplify competitive, fun, and adventurous swimming.’
Since 2015, the GSS and its member races have been hosting open water event around the world, with 200+ open water races, in 35+ countries, and 100,000+ participants.
With Race The Legends, swimmers will be able to collect GSS series points by participating in virtual and real-world race. The points will be used to qualify for prizes related to the Legends event format. Swimmers can qualify for various tiers of prizes, from autographed memorabilia, to meeting the pro athletes in person, to ‘even having dinner with all the legends’.
CEO & Founder of the Global Swim Series, Robert Kent said “We are so excited to kick off our seventh season with an announcement of this magnitude. It is a good day when one of the greatest swimmers of all time joins your team.
“And having Ryan kick off Race The Legends will be incredible. It is a dream for all of us at GSS and will be a thrill for swimmers around the world.”
He continued, “There has never been anything like this in any sport. But in swimming, the legends are out there, and they deserve the publicity and recognition that other sports legends get, and we want to give it to them. All while thrilling the swimmers beyond belief. People do truly crave life experiences and I can think of nothing better than this for a swimmer.”
The Global Swim Series was founded in 2015 and has become ‘the largest swim series in the world’. Prior to many races being postponed in 2020, the GSS had 200+ open water races, in 35+ countries, with 100,000+ participants. With the addition of the Race The Legends races, as well as the pent-up demand to travel, the company argues that these numbers are expected to grow even more this year. The GSS is a privately owned company based in Toronto, Canada.
