More than 60 solo swimmers and 10 3-person rely teams entered to swim 11 miles of the Willamette River and under 12 bridges in the fifth annual Portland Bridge Swim on Sunday, July 12, 2015.



Race organizer Marisa Frieder said conceived of the event after she swam under the bridges in 2010 and found interest from other distance swimmers when she described what she had done.



In 2011's inaugural race, there were just 16 swimmers.



Since that time, Portland has nearly rebuilt one bridge (Sellwood), is nearly ready to open a brand-new one (Tillikum Crossing) and the river swim has grown to the point that competitors leave in staggered waves.



In giving pre-race instructions, Frieder cautioned swimmers that, with the Willamette River water temperature running at just under 80 degrees, they should be more concerned about over-heating than hypothermia.

--Randy L. Rasmussen



rrasmussen@oregonian.com



503 896 9181



@randyras01