Fat Salmon Swim hits the water on July 14

A school of more than 300 humans is expected to make the 3.2-mile journey from one Lake Washington floating bridge to the other during the 19th annual Fat Salmon Swim on Saturday, July 14.

The open-water swim takes off from the Day Street Boat launch under the Interstate 90 floating bridge at 8:15 a.m. July 14, and will conclude at Madison Park Beach, just south of the State Route 520 floating bridge.

The early registration fee is $80 through June 30, and then $90 after July 1.

Proceeds from the Fat Salmon Swim support the Orca Swim Team, a nonprofit swim club, which is hosting the annual event. “They’re a pretty good group in terms of advocacy for LGBT issues,” said Meg Meinerz, who is serving her fourth year as race director.

Meinerz swam the event for several years before she stopped to focus on the organizational side of the Fat Salmon Swim.

“It was great. It’s a really fun event,” she said. “It’s kind of weather-dependent, but even on the worst day it’s really fun.”

The first-place finisher in each division will receive a whole salmon from Wild Salmon Seafood, one of the event’s major sponsors.

Meinerz said she expects about 100 spectators to come out for the Fat Salmon Swim, not counting the lifeguards, kayakers, motorboats and harbor patrol crews that will monitor the race for safety.

The race is capped at 350 swimmers, and Meinerz said there were about 40 slots left as of press time.

It takes about an hour for the first finisher to come ashore, Meinerz said, and the race is cut at two hours, with the award ceremony taking place at 10 a.m.

Find more information at fatsalmonswim.com.