Open Water/Summer, 2016 25
I have heard the event being described as being complex, but it's not until you get to the beach to see all the support craft on the beach and in the water ready before the race even kicks off. Each swimmer or team of swimmers is required to have support craft on hand for safety and feeding purposes.
We headed to the finishing point of Mills Beach in Mornington to wait for the friends we were supporting, watching them come in one by one. We could see that the relatively calm conditions closer into shore made way for choppier seas out in the open water of Port Phillip Bay. As the swimmers came in, they all shared a similar story for the event. The conditions were difficult with most swimmers and kayakers explaining periods of very slow or stopped progress for parts of the swim due to the head with they were facing. The 2015 was actually cancelled due to conditions so it was great that swimmers got through the tough conditions.
The day saw Jackson Coote take out the mens race in a time of two hours and fifty minutes, just edging out David Fraser, while Lisandra De Carvalho won the women's event in three hours and three minutes with Kerry White coming in as runner up.
The event continues to grow from the first year it was run in 2004, which is no surprise after seeing the atmosphere shared by the participants at the start and finish. Maybe it's one for me in the next few years, but need to find myself a kayaker first.