The organisers of the swim really know their stuff.

Photo: A reasonable day in Dover, UK

Chinmoy Kumar Ghose, better known as Sri Chinmoy (27^th August 1931 – 11^th October 2007), was an Indian spiritual master who taught meditation after moving to New York City in 1964. He established his first meditation centre in Queens, New York, and eventually had thousands of students in 60 countries. He also wrote, painted and composed poems and music.

Sri Chinmoy was brought up in a Hindu family, but he had great respect for all religions and was was invited to lead a plenary session of the Parliament of World Religions in both 1993 and 2004. In 2007, Chinmoy was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and had ongoing friendships with Mikhail Gorbachev, Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, and Desmond Tutu. At one stage he also advised Carl Lewis.

Sri Chinmoy is well known for advocating athleticism to achieve spiritual enlightenment. He advocated distance running, swimming, and weightlifting and organised marathons and other races. These days the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team organises races across Switzerland and also worldwide. Specifically, the Lake Zurich Marathon Swim is the longest swim that the team organises.

For more information on Sri Chinmoy and the Sri Chinmoy marathon team, check out their website