Swim Across THE RACE: Little Gull Island to Fishers Island, NY
ATHLETE: Spencer Schneider
START POINT: Little Gull Island, NY
END POINT: Isabella Beach, Fishers Island, NY
Mode of Travel ( Ex: Run, Swim, Bike, Paddle, Hike) : SWIM
Distance: 8.3 mi
Date of Completion: 08/19/2026
Levels of Support: DPB Guide Boat with Captain and Prone Paddle Spotter. Solo Swimmer. Open water swimming rules applied.
Trip Report: We pushed off the dock at Ship Ashore Marina in Sag Harbor at 5:35 AM. Made our way out around Cedar Pt. with the sun rising above Gardiners Island, and headed out past the Ruins to Little Gull Island for the swim start. Resident swimmer, Spencer Schneider aka The Ol’Cat was calm, cool and collected. With Captain Dave at the helm and Drew Harvey as the paddle spotter, this crew was well seasoned in these Long Island waters. Previous swim crossings have already been made by this very crew to Gardiners Island, Plumb Island and Block Island to name a few. These are Dawgpatch Waters.
Note: For those who are unfamiliar, The Race proper is a 3 mile wide, 300ft deep channel where the main tidal exchange happens between the Long Island and Block Island Sound. As the crow flies there is 5 miles of open water between Little Gull Island and the Southwest Pt. of Fishers Island. So we figured on a 6 mile swim with the amount of current running through, and planned our course accordingly.
We arrived at Little Gull Island at 6:30 AM. The water was calm, the air cool. A huge seal sat on one of the boulders watching us get ready. At 6:45 AM Schneider hit the water 25 yards off Little Gull Island in line with the tower and started swimming.
The tide was ebbing out of the Long Island Sound, low tide was at 8:56 AM, wind was blowing 3.8 kts out of the WNW, swell was 1ft out of the SE.
The waters off Little Gull Island were calm over the shoal to start. Spencer was moving well. Then we hit a patch of tumultuous water where depths plummeted to 150 - 200 ft. Schneider kept swimming. As we crossed that first channel between Little Gull I and Valiant Rock, we began to get set East and South with the outgoing current.
Schneider reached the 3 mile mark (SE of Valiant Rock) in no time, and we could see Race Rock Lt and Fishers Island in full view. While taking some food and water, we remarked that we were ahead of schedule. Little did we know, maybe too ahead.
As we entered The Race, the water was calm but pulsing, and then out of no where we saw the fog rolling in out of the N. Race Rock Lt disappeared. Then Fishers Island disappeared. Captain Dave quickly took a compass heading and we tightened up our formation. Spencer swam between the boat and paddle board and we listened closely for other boats. Visibility went down to approximately 50 yards in the thick of it.
While Spencer swam through the fog he was also in the thick of The Race. The tide was still going out faster than we predicted, and we were going out with it. Schneider kept a solid pace, but our actual headway towards Fishers Island slowed as we were getting sucked further out into the Block Island Sound.
At a certain point we stopped and asked for a location update, our minds were blown when the Captain said Race Rock was now to our WNW. That meant we were well beyond the Southwest Point of Fishers Island, but because of the current we were not any closer to Fishers Island.
Around 8:30 AM the fog passed through and Fishers Island came into view again. It was the same distance away as when the fog came in, but we were significantly further SE of the island. Unfortunately for Spencer he was still only about half way despite having already swam approximately 4+ miles. Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.
After about one more hour of swimming Schneider finally punched through The Race. Wilderness Pt. on Fishers Island was due North. Time was approx. 9:30 AM.
Low tide came and went, and we thought the incoming tide push would help us finish. It did not. The currents around Fishers Island have a mind of their own. We continued to get set East. Spencer took a drink of water and got back to swimming. It felt like we were going no where, but land was getting closer.
Our Wilderness Pt. heading soon became an Isabella Beach heading for the final push. As we came up on Fishers Island we saw people playing on the beach and waves crashing into the boulders. Schneider could smell the challenge done. We chose a good landing spot and Spencer hammered towards the beach, touching land at 10:43 AM.
The full crossing ended up being 8.3 miles and took 3 hrs 58 minutes. THE RACE HAS BEEN SWAM. WOOF.
Additional Details: To our knowledge this is the first ever attempt and successful swim crossing of The Race from Little Gull Island to Fishers Island.
