Before we begin, we’d like to issue a disclaimer: We do not condone reckless driving. Ensure that everybody in your car arrives safely and that other road users do too. We wish to raise awareness and help avoid any misinformation.
Swimming: The Details
Swimming Explained
Traffic Swimming is cutting up traffic, bobbing and weaving across lanes, lane splitting, taking shortcuts, all at a high speed. Swimmers will even use bicycle lanes, parts of sidewalks and run red lights to keep their momentum going.
Swimmers will also drift, taunt police officers, and initiate high speed police chases.
These actions are usually recorded with go-pros for different perspectives, on cell phones by passengers, then edited and uploaded to platforms like TikTok, YouTube, X, Reddit and more.
Why is it named Swimming?
This trend isn’t named due to anybody doing laps or timing their sprints. The trend was named in reference to how smoothly participants like to weave, or cut up, traffic. ‘Swimmers’ believe they’re adding a level of finesse and skill to what is already a frowned upon, yet common, driving practice.
The term Swimming was initially defined by Swim Team members Wheres981 and Float, who decided that instead of referring to their activities as cutting up, they joked around and called their activities floating and swimming through traffic, deciding it sounded nicer.
Swimming vs Cutting in Traffic
You may assume that “Swimming” is new car slang for cutting in traffic, but it isn’t, as there is more to Swimming than you may first assume. The trend has defined weaving in and out of traffic at far higher speeds, with a higher amount of skill and finesse involved, however, both practices are denounced frequently by individuals who believe each practice isn’t welcome in modern car culture.
Swimming Defined
Swimming is more than cutting up traffic on a highway, aggressively driving and getting around fast. Swimming involves intentionally making difficult maneuvers, perhaps drifting, turning very tight corners, navigating through tight spaces smoothly, as well as taking alternate routes to evade police officers; such as the wrong way down one way streets, or using bicycle lanes.
Cutting Up Traffic Defined
Cutting up traffic is when a driver will overtake another and suddenly move in front of them, leaving a very small amount of space and cutting them off. Swimmers will do this several times in quick succession while accelerating rapidly.
Lane Splitting Defined
Lane splitting is typically defined as motorbike and bicycle users riding between 2 cars in parallel lanes, driving or stationary. However, Swimmers will do this in full size cars, sometimes leaving less than an inch between a car on each side, causing other road users to swerve out of their way.
Why do people Swim in traffic?
In Tommy G’s interview with the people that had popularized the trend, he asked infamous Swimmer ‘Squeeze.Benz’ how he got started on this path, and why he continues to do it. Squeeze.Benz replied that he’d always made “little driving videos” and hadn’t taken it too seriously, until one of his friends told him that people had made names for themselves doing it.
When Tommy G interviewed a well established member of the Swim team, Float, asking why it was worth it, he said “It’s not worth it, that’s the thing, I can’t justify it.”
As many Swimmers interviewed couldn’t directly explain why they do it, one may assume that adrenaline rushes, online clout, money and building a community is the motivation behind it. Swimming Creator wheres981 hosts a website in which he sells branded hoodies for $166 each.
YouTube and other platforms are slow to demonetize these videos, as they’re usually posted with a disclaimer claiming that the videos are faked or staged, which allows the video a small window of time to make the creator money.
The Virality of Swimming
Videos on YouTube that have been online for just over a month have consistently garnered over 500,000 views, with some videos reaching millions of views in the same timeframe.
Other sites, such as TikTok and Instagram Reels are perfect for Swimmers to upload short clips of near misses, or highlight reels, consistently gaining them hundreds of thousands of views on nearly every video. Due to the algorithms behind these social media sites, and the high engagement each post gets; whether it’s fans or people speaking out against the trend, these videos consistently reach a level of virality that isn’t common.
Swimmers: The Details
What are Swimmers?
Swimmers have garnered large amounts of popularity and attention, gaining hundreds of thousands of followers across social media platforms, including thousands of followers on Twitch, where they will livestream themselves driving & Swimming on video games, such as Assetto Corsa, with their fans.
Individual Swimmers are usually known for a particular skill; drifting, driving at high speeds, smooth ‘filtering’ or cutting up traffic, and evading police in high speed chases.
What separates Swimmers from other reckless driving thrill seekers?
Content posted online that includes people cutting up traffic and driving dangerously has always existed, but this new change in attitude, with an air of competitiveness and near professionalism has taken the scene by storm. It has gone from unhinged thrill seekers posting escapades online to a refined and businesslike approach from Swimmers.
Swimmers take this risky driving to another level, thoroughly masking their identities, renting high performance cars for short periods of time, removing the plates and intentionally choosing certain places to ‘Swim’ that ensure an easier getaway. When asked how he chooses to evade the police, Squeeze.Benz stated that he uses the highway, as most police officers aren’t trained well enough to keep up, and their cars can’t keep up with the high performance Mercedes Benz, BMW and Lamborghini commonly used by Swimmers.
Who started Swimming?
The trend was named after the original group of people who began popularizing it; the Swim team, stylized as Swim>. However, some independent names have established themselves as prolific Swimmers, without being affiliated with the original group, such as Squeeze.Benz.
Infamous Swimmers
Squeeze.Benz
Antonio Ginestri, aged 19, was exposed as the infamous Squeeze.Benz that had been tearing through New York City (including Times Square) and Newark streets. Police stated that they caught him in an incident unrelated to his speeding and reckless driving offenses, but that several different counties were filing a variety of charges against him related to his activities that he posted online.
NYPD Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry made a statement on X shortly after, saying:
“One of the most prolific street racers in NYC can no longer treat the Big Apple like the Indy 500. To anyone thinking about putting themselves and others in danger, recklessly zooming through the streets of NYC, think again! You will be arrested and your car will be seized. You will face justice.”
Ginestri had recently gone viral for getting into an accident while taking the streamer N3on along while Swimming. You can view the clip here.
Swim Team
In Tommy G’s interviews with various renowned Swimmers, he interviewed members Wheres981, Float, BriQ50, Reaperf8x and Billy on what defines them as Swimmers and their opinions about danger, police and consequences.
Which Cars Swimmers Drive
Each Swimmer has a personal preference for the cars that they drive, each being matched to their talents, and even reflects their personality to a certain extent. Some Swimmers are well known for choosing a certain type of car, or having a favorite. However, when going viral, Swimmers often have to switch their cars due to the attention from law enforcement.
Cars used in Swimming usually have good acceleration, are typically compact, have good brakes and good handling. Certain types of Lexus have been seen in several viral clips, Toyota Supras, Subaru BRZs and more.
Squeeze.Benz Cars
- Various Mercedes Benz
- Lamborghini Urus
- BMW G80 M3
Wheres981 Cars
- Porsche 981 Cayman S
- Porsche 911 Carrera GTS
- BMW M2 Competition
The Risks of Swimming
There is a general consensus that every Swimmer accepts that what they are doing is irrational, dangerous and unjustifiable. Many of which stated that they wouldn’t allow their families to do it, and that they believe they deserve harsh punishments if caught.
But there is a much more real consequence posed by these actions. Death and injury are around every corner, present at every single lane switch, or every time a pedal hits the floor.
Dangers of Driving
Cars are potentially deadly when mishandled and should always be handled with respect. Here’s how fast car collisions have to be to lead to various injuries.
- 25 mph (40 kmh) to fatally injure a pedestrian.
- 50 mph (80 kmh) to likely receive severe injury in a car collision.
- 70 mph (112 kmh) or above to be likely to be deadly in a car collision.
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Young Men are More Likely To Speed
Young men make up a significant demographic of Swimmers and viewers of Swimming content. According to IIHS, during 2022 in the United States 20% of male car drivers involved in fatal crashes were speeding at the time of the crash, compared with 12% of female drivers.
Causes of Fatal Crashes
According to the most recent data provided by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Traffic Safety Facts Annual Report, all of the below factors have contributed to a significant portion of the Nation’s fatal crashes, and 1 crash can have multiple factors involved.
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