Margaret River Ocean Swim 2016
The Margaret River Ocean swim presented by Swimming Women and the Shire of Augusta Margaret River Recreation Centre, was held on Saturday and deemed a great success by event organisers and participants alike.
Ignoring weather reports, heavy rain over night and the rumble of thunder 78 people turned up to Gnarabup Beach from all areas of the capes and were met with overcast yet magical conditions in the bay. A great variety of people took part in the 1km swim from 10 and 11 year olds swimming with Mum or Dad, to people who only learnt to swim recently competing along side seasoned open water racers.
The first person across the line was Louis Bray from Busselton, in a time of 13:25. Louis was chased up the beach by Margaret River resident John Andrews (last years winner) who was just 8 seconds behind. The first female was young Lucinda Jones who at just 12 years of age has a fantastic future of swimming ahead of her. Another brilliant junior swimmer Esther Pedrick (age 14) was just 2 seconds behind Lucinda as the second place female. The girls were 4th and 5th place overall in times of 14.58 and 15.00 respectively.
A huge thank you goes out to the Westpac rescue helicopter which flew over the bay prior to the start of the event and during offering reassurance to many swimmers and to Perry Hatchett of Margaret River Surf Lifesaving, who was on a jet ski joined by Cam O’Beirne of Capes to Coast and Shire Lifeguards Bec Lickel and Mick Short all providing water safety helping to ensure the event went smoothly.
The purpose of the Margaret River Ocean Swim was to encourage people to take part in their first open water event and to see many young kids swimming the one kilometre course with their parents was simply fantastic. It was so wonderful to see people encouraging each other and offering support if nerves took hold as well as congratulating the champions of the day.
Thank you also to our wonderful event sponsors for whom the event would be impossible: Swimming Women, Shire of Augusta Margaret River, The White Elephant, Tonic Pilates, Cape Mentelle, Evans and Tate, Lenton Brae, Stella Bella Wines, Walsh and Sons Wine Company, The Hemp Shop, Seber Road Wines, Preveli Wines, Thompson Estate and The Brew Shack.
Full results are available here