Ky Hurst, a grinder for Oracle Team USA, will return to his first love this weekend when he competes in the Zobec Round the Sound Swim.

Swapping his wetsuit for speedos will not be a problem for Hurst, having only made the switch from swimming to sailing last summer to take up a prized contract with the America’s Cup champions.

He is still better known for his exploits as a two-times Olympic swimmer and icon of Ironman surf lifesaving, which consists of swimming, paddleboarding, ski paddling and running, although that could change should he help Oracle defend the “Auld Mug”.

The 35-year-old will be in familiar territory on Sunday in Harrington Sound, where he will be the favourite in the 4-kilometres race.

“Ky is still a phenomenal swimmer and showed up and won the Trunk Island Swim in July,” said Nick Strong, the event organiser.

Hurst, who competed at London in 2012 and Beijing in 2008 in the 10k open water, will not be the only top name in the annual race.

Erik Soria, a former United States Olympic Trials swimmer, will look to defend his title in the 10k event, having set a record time of 2hr 12min 25sec in last year’s race.

Soria, a local resident, finished ahead of Oleg Chebotarev, of Princeton, New Jersey, in 2:22:37 and Mike Caputo, of Staton Island, in 2:23:14.

Strong describes 35-year-old Soria as the “Chris Estwanik of local swimming” and expects him to be the man to beat in the blue-ribbon event.

“Erik is a former US Olympic Trials swimmer, an All-American and won the 10k last year in a record time,” Strong said.

“He used to come down and compete as a visitor before he moved to Bermuda and I know he put in a lot of training last year.” Strong also hopes Peter Marshall, a former world-record holder in the 50-metres backstroke, will be among this year’s entries after competing in last month’s National Open Water Championships at Turtle Bay on Southside.

Marshall, of the US, placed second behind Jesse Washington in the men’s 1,500 race, with Rebecca Heyliger, who represented Bermuda at the Rio Olympics, winning the women’s event. The 5k was won by Soria ahead of Ilya Cherapau, while Eileen Mullowney took the women’s title.

“I’m hoping to persuade Peter to take part,” Strong added. “He will probably swim one of the shorter distances like the 2k.”

Strong expects more than 160 overseas competitors to take to the water and hopes for a similar number of local entrants.

“Some of the overseas swimmers are of a really high calibre,” he said. “We have an overseas co-ordinator who networks for us in the US and we also placed an ad in Swimmer magazine in January.

“We had about 130 locals last year and we’re trying to get a few more than that.”

The Round the Sound Swim will include 800 metres, 2k, 4k, 7.25k, and 10k races, with the event starting 10am in Flatts.