Semana Nautica Summer Sports Festival

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Semana Nautica Summer Sports Festival

Santa Barbara's two-week summertime sports festival with competitions in ocean swimming, beach volleyball, running, sailing, and more

For over three quarters of a century, Santa Barbara has celebrated the Semana Nautica Festival surrounding the 4th of July holiday. The festival originated in 1933 when the local populace challenged the crew of five U.S. Navy battleships, moored outside the harbor, to a series of contests along the beach. Dubbed Fleet Week, the resulting enthusiasm inspired the City Council to charter the event on

a permanent basis the following year and change the name to Semana Nautica in honor of the town's Spanish heritage. Over the years, the sports festival has incorporated hundreds of various events, from the extremely physically challenging to those that welcome participants of all ages and abilities. Spectators may attend the events free of charge and are encouraged to cheer amateur competitors at the many sites in Carpinteria, Santa Barbara and Goleta. More than a million people have visited Santa Barbara during Semana Nautica since its inception.

08/14/2025

Tomorrow is Awards Night for our 2025 Semana Nautica festival honorees, held at East Beach during Reef & Run’s post-race beach party.

This year’s class includes Athlete of the Year Kyle Visin (pictured), Jeff Farrell Award recipients (Cohen Family), and Ocean Swimmers of the Year Connor Martilla, Grace Nackers and Hannah Holman.

Congrats to all the award recipients and thanks to Reef & Run for hosting!!

08/06/2025

In 2025 there was a tie in Semana Nautica’s Ocean Swimmer of the Year Point Series for the first time in the award’s history. So this year we get to celebrate not two, but three incredible swimmers: Connor Martilla, Hannah Holman and Grace Nackers.

Each Ocean Swimmer of the Year will receive a free entry for Reef & Run’s Boat to Beach Swim on August 28 and a limited edition Semana Nautica towel.

To qualify for the point series standings, swimmers must compete in multiple races during the festival, including either the 3-Mile or 6-Mile distance. Only nine women and five men qualified.

Holman and Martilla are now repeat champions while Nackers at 15 years old is the youngest OSOY since the award’s inception in 2013.

07/16/2025

Time to thank the various water-safety teams that help keep Semana Nautica athletes safe in the water and on the beach.

Santa Barbara City Lifeguards, Harbor Patrol, SB County Lifeguards, and SB County Fire all contribute in one way or another. Thanks also goes to the event directors and Santa Barbara Parks & Rec officials who help coordinate these important safety measures for the benefit of all.

While these efforts won’t show up in the box score, it was a masterful performance at this year’s festival.

07/13/2025

Conner Martilla broke the two-hour mark today in the Semana Nautica 6-Mile Swim, becoming the first person to do so in at least a decade. Martilla won the race from Goleta Beach to Hendry’s in 1:58.57. Kyle Brill was second in 2:03.18.

Women’s winner was Grace Nackers in third overall with a time of 2:06.53.

Nackers’ time was also the fastest on the women’s side in at least a decade, as swimmers enjoyed relatively calm conditions for the long-distance open-water course.

Partial results are posted here. Look for complete results soon on SemanaNautica.com/results.

07/09/2025

Some praiseworthy performances from Semana Nautica’s paddle board races last Sunday:

Oliver Levine had a strong day, winning the 3-Mile Paddle with a time of 32.29. Levine later added another win in the Ironguard Individual.

Brittney Gamble collected three victories as the top woman in the 1-Mile Paddle, Paddle Sprints, and Ironguard.

Kumani Roth was fastest in the 1-Mile Paddle and 3rd in the paddle sprints.

Daniel Switzer took home a title too, beating the field to win the Paddle Sprints.

Nice work to all who competed!

07/07/2025

Great to see Ocean Water Polo back at Stearns Wharf this year for the first time since 2019. The pier was packed and people loved stopping to watch the action.

Thanks to RJ Goligowski for stepping in to make it happen, and to SB City’s Waterfront Directors and Harbor Patrol for coordinating water safety.

07/07/2025

It was a gorgeous Santa Barbara summer day at East Beach today. Enjoys the views looking at the CBVA Santa Barbara Open.

07/07/2025

Some Semana Nautica champions from today: Noah Warkentin, Hannah Holman, Kyle Visin and Marie Claire Lamb.

Warkentin and Visin are repeat champs in the 3-Mile Swim and East Beach Biathlon, respectively. Warkentin won the 3-mile in a time of 1:01.59, while Holman posted 1:08.51. Visin’s winning time in the biathlon was 37:30.

Both competitions are Semana Nautica classic events with decades of history. Congrats to this year’s new class of champions, and thanks to all of today’s competitors for carrying on a Santa Barbara tradition!!

07/06/2025

So, what are you doing tomorrow?? If it’s not the CBVA Santa Barbara Open, then you’re missing out!!

Santa Barbara’s top beach volleyball tournament of the year takes over East Beach all day Sunday so come on down and check out some pro volleyball right in front of Cabrillo Bathhouse. There’s both a men’s and women’s tournament.

No tickets needed, just volleyball and chill. See you there!

07/06/2025

Kyle Visin and Caitlin Swalec tasted success on Saturday, winning Semana Nautica’s Stud Ironman competition at East Beach.

Thirty-five individuals completed the grueling course, which is a series of swim sprints and beach running that is a serious test of fitness.

Cuyler Gabriel, Jason Smith (defending champ), Ben Tucker and Andrew Siciliano rounded out the top five overall.

Thanks to and SB City Lifeguards for running the beach events today!! More tomorrow… let’s go!!

07/06/2025

Semana Nautica Athletes & Supporters! Big thanks to Reunion Kitchen & Drink for being one of our key sponsors and major supporters of Semana Nautica’s 86th annual beach and ocean sports festival at East Beach Pavilion. They know how to entertain and serve everyone in Santa Barbara! Head into Reunion for strong food selections and drink specials this weekend. Have fun and compete! 🌊🏖️💪

07/05/2025

Saturday morning events are a wrap!

Connor Martilla won the Semana Nautica 2-Mile Ocean Swim for the second year in a row, registering a time of 40 minutes and 25 seconds. Grace Nackers was the official winner of the women’s race with a time of 44:54 after the leader was DQ’d for missing the final buoy turn.

Amy Jacobsen raced to victory in the East Beach Fun Run while the elder-lifeguard crew of John Bishoo, John Ford, and Jeremy Kipp combined to win the 1000-Meter Swim Teams competition.

Saturday’s far from over with Stud Ironman and Ironguard Relay still to come.

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Santa Barbara, CA

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http://www.semananautica.com/

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