Seven Swim Race

The Seven Swim Race is an open water swimming race held in the waters of Lake Como at Spiaggia La Breva in Colico, in the northern Lombardy region of Italy. The event was first held in 2024, inviting competitors to swim along the open shoreline where mountain breezes sweep over the lake. Organized by Amici di Claudio and Spatangus, the event takes place in October. Swimmers choose between three open water courses starting right from the beach. The options include an accessible 200-meter promotional swim, an intermediate course of 1.8 kilometers covering a nautical mile, and a longer challenge of 3.6 kilometers spanning a double mile. Lake conditions can feel distinctly cold. Safety boats and bright buoys mark every stretch of the course, letting athletes settle into their stroke.

Where the Adda and Mera shape Lake Como

The Mera eventually completes its journey by flowing into Lake Como near the town of Sorico. At Colico, the Adda river discharges into the northern arm of Lake Como. Over centuries, sediment carried by the Adda and Mera created the flat expanse of Pian di Spagna. In ancient times, the body of water known as Lake Mezzola was part of Lake Como—then called the Lario—and reached north to the ancient river port of Samolaco. The delta sediments of the two rivers gradually separated the waters, forming Lake Mezzola and creating the natural sand at La Punta in Sorico, the only beach of its kind on Lake Como. Along the shores of Lake Mezzola, the Albonico stream forms a waterfall before reaching the lake.

Pian di Spagna and the sunken village of Olonio

In 1520, the Adda river shifted its course in a sudden event that flooded the surrounding plain, leading to the depopulation of Pian di Spagna. Surging waters submerged the ancient settlement of Olonio under the riverbed. To prevent further disasters, the Austrian administration permanently diverted the Adda away from Lake Mezzola in 1858. Decades later, during the 1950s, a major reclamation project eliminated the surviving lake marshes across the delta. The Sorico stream once caused heavy damage during a destructive nighttime flood on September 1, 1755. In 1783, engineers diverted the final stretch of the Sorico stream into its modern riverbed. Because it maintains a steady flow throughout the year, the Sorico stream historically powered three water mills, including two higher up in the valley at 390 and 600 meters used for grinding chestnuts.

In 1905, one of Lake Como's earliest hydroelectric stations opened in the Piazzo area along the stream, later replaced by an updated plant in 1960. Along the San Vincenzo torrent, another hydroelectric plant operates in Gera Lario using a 129.99-meter vertical drop. During the 14th century, the Visconti family erected the stone Fontanedo Tower to monitor movement across the Upper Lake and Lake Mezzola. In the first half of the 16th century, builders added the Castle of Mirabello, a fortified house perched on a hill looking down over the town of Colico.

Wildlife corridors and peninsulas around Colico

Nature around the northern end of the lake remains closely tied to the wetland reserves and water corridors. At the northernmost head of Lake Como in Sorico, the sandy shores of La Punta lie within the boundaries of the Pian di Spagna Reserve. On the slopes near Fort Fuentes and Piona, traditional stone towers with vertical nets known as roccoli were once used to catch passing birds. The Olgiasca peninsula juts into the lake. The Livo river originates at an altitude of approximately 1,800 meters from the alpine basin of Lake Darengo, eventually flowing into Lake Como near Domaso. Near its mouth, the Livo forms an alluvial fan that creates one of the widest flat shorelines on the western side of Lake Como, extending roughly 7 kilometers between the Molo di Vercana area and Gravedona.

Similarly, the Liro stream flows out from Mount Marmontana near the Swiss border, running for 16 kilometers through Val San Iorio before entering Lake Como at Gravedona. Combined with the alluvial fan of the Livo and the Albano stream, this flat ground stretches 7 kilometers from Arbosto in Domaso down to Dongo. The Albano stream begins at Bocchetta di Sommafiume in Germasino and flows through the Albano valley into Lake Como at Dongo. Its clear mountain water supports populations of brown trout, rainbow trout, and chub, as well as fire salamanders and stream mayflies. The lake provides an inspiring setting for open water swimming. Swimmers returning to the beach at Spiaggia La Breva finish their journey where the waters meet the shores of Colico.