Swim Course.  The Triathlon swim course is a 1.2-mile open water swim in the Gulf of Mexico .  The swim will start and finish at the Boardwalk Beach Resort at Panama City Beach , Florida .  Refer to the map of the swim course, Figure 1.  The swim will be an out and back course starting near the center of the Boardwalk Beach Resort.  The race will start in waves as shown in the below table, the swimmers will swim straight out approximately 950 yards from shore, turn right for approximately 200 yards, and then swim back toward shore to the finish line.  The first wave of the swim will begin the professional triathletes at 06:20 AM followed by 13 waves spaced 5 minutes apart.

The swim will be marked with large buoys approximately every 125 yards to keep the swimmers on course.  Large boats will be positioned at the outer corners for a visual reference.  Several small safety boats, jet skis, kayaks, and surfboards will be positioned along the swim course to aid in navigation or to help any swimmer in distress.