Bi-directional, non-contiguous, non-continuous

noun - A bi-directional, non-contiguous, non-continuous stage swim is an open water swim where a swimmer swims in two different directions around around the island (for a circumnavigation swim) or in different directions in a point-to-point swim. The point where the swimmer changes direction is referred to as the switchback.

Traditional Stage Swim Rules

In a traditional stage swim, swimmers swim in one direction in a circumnavigation course, either clockwise or counterclockwise.
In a traditional stage swim, swimmers swim in one direction in a point-to-point swim, either north or south, or east or west.
These traditional stage swim rules have been in place and followed throughout the history of the sport of open water swimming.
The stage swims were traditionally uni-directional, meaning the swims continued in the same direction from start to finish.
The stage swims were contiguous, meaning that each swim started at the same location of the exit point of the previous stage.
The stage swims were continuous, meaning that each stage was performed at least once every day.

In 2025, Quinn Fitzgerald, Pat Gallant-Charette, and Dan Simonelli re-interpreted these rules during the Great Icelandic Swim on behalf of Ross Edgley's assisted stage swim around the island of Iceland.
Approximately 75% of this swim was conducted in the clockwise direction. The last approximate 25% of the course was reversed when the conditions became difficult. Edgley was boated from one point to the finish point and then swam the last 25% of the course in the counterclockwise direction. During this switch, the swim temporarily stopped (thereby, becoming non-continuous), moved to a different area (thereby, becoming non-contiguous), and swum in the opposite direction (thereby, becoming bi-directional).
In July 2026, during Catherine Breed's Swim California assisted stage swim down the coast of California, she started to swim in the opposite direction (southwards) from a different area (thereby, becoming non-contiguous and bi-directional. This swim is being governed and ratified by Quinn Fitzgerald, Pat Gallant-Charette, and Dan Simonelli.

Coined by Steven Munatones in 2025.