Friday marked a historic day as a staggering number of swimmers, over 500 in total, headed to Busselton Jetty for the Ocean Swim Festival’s Community Swim. Among them, 9-year-old Ava Hartzer, who, just a week after celebrating her birthday, journeyed over three hours from Yanchep to partake in the event. On the flip side, 73-year-old Trish Miller shared her gratitude for the event after completing the 1.25km race stating, “It’s just such a great course, it’s well organised and the water was just beautiful.”
The Community Swim has grown as a pinnacle event, with participant numbers increasing over the past year. This gathering of the WA community in regional WA presents a unique opportunity for open water enthusiasts across the state to get the opportunity to race on the same course as the Australian Open Water Championships.
Friday afternoon hosted the mixed 14-15 4x1.25km relay. The North Coast team, included Mila Reyes, Lara Green, Billy Hawkes, and Oliver Browne, clinched the gold, while the UWA West Coast team, included Sam Reynolds, Max Phua, Amy Joyce, and Rachel O’Malley-Sudlow, secured the bronze, trailing behind the New South Wales club, AquaBlitz.
The final day of the event commenced with the 5km races, witnessing Jack Wilson (North Coast, c: Ian Mills) seize third place with a time of 55:24.90, leading ahead of North Coast teammate Adam Sudlow. Westside Christchurch’s Xavier Collins (c: Jon Harrison) dominated the boys' 18 years, ahead of teammate Kristian Seidl. South Shore’s Thomas Dreverman (c: Matt Magee) claimed victory in the 17-years 5km, touching at 59:27.18, ahead of teammate Samuel Zollner.
In the women's 5km, Rosie Wilson (North Coast, c: Ian Mills) claimed silver with a time of 1:02:11.53, ahead of Rockingham’s Rebekah Weller, who secured bronze medal. The multi class 5km saw Kate Wallington S19 leading the pack, finishing ahead of Bunbury’s Amie Holwill S19. In the girls' 17-years 5km, Bianca Monaco (Westside Christchurch, c: Jon Harrison) secured silver medal.
As the four day event reached its final day, the spotlight shifted to the club points score. Noosa Swimming Club from Queensland finish first with an impressive 444 points, followed by WA’s North Coast in second position with 424 points, and Westside Christchurch securing the third spot with 299 points.
