About Us

About the Busselton Jetty Swim

The Busselton Jetty Swim is an annual open water swimming event, featuring a 3.6km swim around the iconic Busselton Jetty.

The brainchild of Max Higgins, the first event was held in 1996 with just 82 participants.  The event is now held over two days and in addition to its signature 3.6km swim around the Jetty includes a several other swim categories of various distances.  

The 2024 event had a total of 5,000 participants aged 8 to 88 from around the globe, generating an estimated at $3million economic benefit for the wider Busselton community.

The event is organized by Busselton Allsports Inc, a not-for-profit volunteer committee, and supported by numerous volunteers and community groups. 

Key milestones /timeline

1996: Inaugural swim held in January with 82 participants (18 solo females, 30 solo males, 8 four-person teams and one duo team

2005: 1,000 participants

2007: 1008 entries

2010:  Due to the refurbishment of the Busselton Jetty 2010 swim did not include teams. Instead, a 1km swim from the beach out and return to the finish line was offered. A record of 1082 individuals registered overall with 171 entries in the 1km swim.

2011:  Refurbished Busselton Jetty officially opened night prior to 2011 event

2016:   2,084 entries

2017:  2,413 entries. Online registrations sold out within one month  Busselton Jetty Kids Swim introduced

2019:  2,946 entries. Inaugural One-Mile Swim to Shore event held. 2600 entries sell out within 16 hours of opening registrations with a final total of 2946 after an additional allocation of places in an attempt to meet demand

2020:  Celebrates its 25th year with 3,300 entries, selling out in just 3 hours

2021:  Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, 2,948 participants The original 3,600 entries that sold out in 1 hour 18 minutes reduced to 2,948 as a result of the challenges that COVID19 presented.

2022:  Ballot registration process introduced. Swimmers who were unsuccessful in the first round were placed on a waitlist, all of whom where promoted into the event.  3,801 swimmers across all categories

2023:  Simon’s Short-cut introduced