Australian Race Round-up

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Things have been busy down in Australia for the Global Swim Series the past couple weeks. With the Blue Water Challenge two weeks ago and the Port to Park Open Water Swim last weekend and then the famous North Bondi Beach Classic this weekend there has been a ton of excitement as the Series continues through the Australian summer.

To catch up on some of the action:

Blue Water Challenge – Jan. 30 (Queenscliff)

The 24th Annual edition of this race hosted by the Boroughcoutas Swim Club proved to be yet another fantastic edition of this long time race.  The previous week was full of wet and wild weather making many including race organizers a little nervous for the event.  Fortunately come race morning conditions were dry and pleasant.  The excellent work of race organizers allowed the race to go off without a hitch with over 500 swimmers competing in this year’s event.

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Tristan Read just cracked 13 minutes to take the race 1st out of the 494 finishers.  Matt Gilling was 2nd and Kelly Stubbins had a very impressive performance to come 3rd overall as well as being the 1st female.

Full Results

Overall a very fun event that even had an after party for swimmers to celebrate the race.

Port to Park Open Water Swim

Last weekend the Series headed from Queenscliff around the bay to neighboring Melbourne for the Port to Park open water swim held at the South Melbourne Beach.  The swim was a 1.1km straight line swim running parallel to the beach.

Capture 3

This one came down to a tight photo finish that had Jonathan Barrett edging out Tom Jepson and Ben Jesse.  Only 2 seconds separated 1st from 3rd.  Barbara Smith was the Female winner coming 7th overall and Sue Cox and Kate Fraser rounded out the top 3 on the women’s side in a tight race for 2nd.

Full Results

North Bondi Beach Classic – Feb. 14th (Sydney)

The world famous Bondi Beach will be the next stop on the GSS circuit as we head this weekend for an exciting Valentine’s Day event.

This iconic swim was first hosted back in 1983 and will be celebrating its 32nd birthday this year offering a 1km and a 2km distance. Both distances start and finish in front of the North Bondi Surf Life Saving Club. The course heads out past the break and then heads south before coming back to the starting point. It’s a bit of a tricky course depending on the conditions it can challenge swimmers with shifting banks, gutters and rips.

All proceeds of the race go towards fundraising for the Melanoma Institute of Australia for skin cancer research.

This year also offers a special draw where all finishers are entered for a trip to Hawaii for entry in the Waikiki Roughwater swim.

This event is always a staple on the Australian ocean swimming calendar and with its first year being a part of the Global Swim Series this weekend should be a fun event with some great racing on Sydney’s most famous beach.

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