Reston Masters Swim Team has held a lake swim every year since 1988. Except for 1997 and 2002, the swim has been held at Lake Audubon in Reston, VA.

The swim series started as the Reston 2-Mile Lake Swim and was swum along a 1/4-mile rope until 1998 when the rope length was changed to 1/2-mile. In 1999, the swim was renamed the Jim McDonnell 2-Mile Swim in honor of Reston Masters' team member Jim McDonnell, who died in 1998 of non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. Jim was a founding member of the team and was on the meet committee that organized the first swim. Reston Masters has hosted the USMS National Open Water Championships, the first time in 1997 and most recently in 2007.

Proceeds from the swims benefit the Lymphoma Foundation of America. In 2004, we donated $4000; in 2005, we donated $5,500; and in 2006, we donated $7,000; In 2007, we donated $3,000!

For 2003, a 1-mile swim was added to the program and the event was renamed the Jim McDonnell 1- and 2-Mile Lake Swims. The course was changed from a rope course to the open water 1 mile long course with buoys pictured below. Swimmers go around the buoys in a counter-clockwise direction staying between the buoys and the shore -- once for the 1 mile swim, twice for the 2 mile swim.