OZ Mile Swim

Scheduled for September 12, 2026, the Walmart OZ Mile Swim offers distances of 500m, 1609m, 3218m, and 4828m at the Beaver Lake Dam Site. This event, now an annual fixture in Bentonville, provides a entry fee of 65 USD for participants, with wetsuits permitted for all swimmers in the OZ Wave. Every distance utilizes a triangle-shaped course layout, specifically engineered to ensure that spectators on the shore maintain a clear line of sight to the athletes throughout the entire duration of the swim.

A landscape shaped by memory

Beneath the surface of Beaver Lake lies a history marked by significant human displacement. Formed in the 1960s as a reservoir, the lake’s creation necessitated the relocation of structures like the Rocky Branch School and permanently separated the community of Larue from its surrounding landmarks. Today, swimmers pass over these submerged echoes of the region’s past, which once served as vital hubs for the local population. Long before this inundation, the Osage Nation utilized the territory as prime hunting grounds, migrating seasonally from Missouri to spend months within the present-day Benton County. This same land was later traversed by thousands of Cherokee people during the 1838 forced migration along the Trail of Tears, a somber route that cuts through the heart of the region. As you navigate the water, you are moving through a geography that has hosted everything from the staging points of the Confederate army before the 1862 Battle of Pea Ridge to the historic Markey House, which was eventually moved from the military park to its current site to preserve its structure.