Western Australia's Premier Hon. Roger Cook MLA and Member of Scarborough Stuart Aubrey MLA joined over 450 participants at the Open Water Swimming (OWS) Series’ eighth round held at Scarborough Beach. The pair crossed the finish line together clocking in around the one hour and 45-minute mark.
Aubrey commented on the swim saying, "He (Roger Cook) was a bit ahead of me for most of the race so I couldn’t quite catch him."
Cook said, "That was perfect… It was so nice to get out there on the water."
"It’s so important for your physical health, your mental health and just finding out who you are and of course we’ve got this beautiful countryside to enjoy so I reckon you should just get out there."
"I see Tony Ball here from the Kwinana Swimming Club, he’s always cheering me on, telling me I’ve got to do another big race and Tony I think this is enough," Cook laughed.
Supported by New Town Toyota and the City of Stirling, the event had a range of distances on offer ranging from the 500m splash and dash to the 5km point-to-point race. City of Stirling's, Mayor Mark Irwin officially welcomed the event and was in charge of pressing the starter horn to set the swimmers off.
Grace Kinnell and Bodhi Gleeson dominated the 500m race, while Triathlete David Bryant and Breakers Indi Bueddemann were the first swimmers to finish the 1.25km. Bryant, eyeing qualification for the Paris Para Olympics, said, "I've travelled and raced all around the world and I still reckon Perth is the place to be."
Breakers Owen Rowland owed the 2.5km coming in at 34:51.7, ahead of top female swimmer City of Perth's Ava Henville. In the 5km swim from City Beach to Scarborough Beach it was Andrew Morris (Westside Christchurch, c: Jon Harrison) crossing first in 57:16.8, ahead of first female Amber Keegan.
The Swimming WA OWS Series is almost coming to a close for the season. The final event, WA's Big Ocean Relay event is scheduled for Saturday, March 9th at Swanbourne Beach. Anyone from the community can participate in the event by forming a team of four and selecting between a 2km (4x500m) or 4km (4x1km) relay. There will also be an exciting 2km Dash for Cash relay where the top ocean swimmers in WA will compete against each other. For more details, please visit www.openwaterswimming.com.au
