Well! The 2012 Queensland Ocean Swim Series is now over. With the series finale held on Sunday 29 April at Caloundra, we can sit back, contemplate our Speedo tan, and relish in the fact that it was a season well done.
I love the fact that ocean swimming in Queensland is just bursting with popularity. With each event that Weekend Warrior Events run, there are more and more competitors. And why not?! After all, we are the nation that prides itself on surf, sand, and sun. Ocean swimming is so pure, simple, and so ... Aussie! And it’s also open to anyone. It’s a sport of participation. At the start line of any event in this Series, you’ll see kids, parents, office workers, professional athletes, couch potatoes who want to be professional athletes, teenagers, retirees...the only thing that matters is not who you are but whether you can throw on a coloured cap and launch yourself into the waves and TRY! (Ahem, having said that, an ability to actually SWIM does help!)
There are no excuses in ocean swimming and that’s what John Guise and his team wanted to emphasise in the 2012 season: No lanes, no walls, no barriers!
If you ask anyone who hasn’t tried an ocean swim why they haven’t given it a go, they will tell you: “I’m scared of sharks, I can’t breathe properly in the ocean, I can’t swim that far, I don’t like all the people at the start, I can’t find the time to train.” Or, as one of my mates famously told me, “I don’t look good in a swimming cap”...!
If you ask any of the competitors in the Queensland Ocean Swim Series why they keep coming back each year, all their answers have one thing in common: They just love it.
What’s not to love? The freedom of the ocean and sense of personal achievement that comes from completing an ocean swim is an addictive feeling. Add to this the fact that these events are held in some of the best coastal locations in Australia - what more of an incentive do you need to get off your butt and into a pair of Speedos?!
So, here is a brief rundown of the three events in the 2012 Queensland Ocean Swim Series. And if it’s not enough to get your fingers tapping out an entry form for 2013, then I wash my hands of you!
Wrecked
The 2012 calendar kicked off with Wrecked — an event that is, in my mind, the perfect location race: a weekend away at Moreton Bay (escape the office, the iPhone, and Saturday morning kids’ sport) and an ocean swim around the famous shipwrecks.
On 11 March 2012 close to 400 individuals and teams lined the beaches of Moreton Bay to compete in the Wrecked 2.4km course, the Tangalooma 1000, and the 300m Kid’s Dash. The course for these three ocean swims gives you a tour of the historic wrecks of Moreton Bay and finishes in front of Tangalooma Resort — the perfect spot for post-race recovery…or a cocktail!
Colin Braund (31:22), Michael Sheil (31:55) and Bill Maish (33:04) took the top three places in the Wrecked men's event. Sarah Windsor (33:06), Tess Woodward (36:27) and Lesleigh Mayes (36:34) were the top three finishers overall in the women's event.
The Cooly Classic
The second event in the series was The Cooly Classic held at Coolangatta on Sunday 15 April. At the inaugural event in 2010, there were 250 competitors. This year there were close to 600 competitors. In the last three years, this has become the Gold Coasts' premier ocean swimming event.
The appeal for The Cooly Classic is not only in the options for competitors — the Cooly Classic 2.0 (a 2km, challenging ocean swim from Snapper Rocks to Kirra Beach) and two new events in the Gold Coast Bulletin Cooly 1000 (a 1km ocean swim from Coolangatta to Kirra Beach) and the 300m Kids Surf Dash — but also in its location. Coolangatta is one of the best surfing spots in Australia and the event gives competitors the chance to experience three of Australia's favourite surfing breaks: Snapper Rocks, Coolangatta and Kirra.
The conditions on race day were close to perfect and although there was the odd shower of rain around, the surf was up, much to the delight of several surf clubs who were itching to get in the water and protect their club name. A brilliant race for the competitors and those with their morning orange juice on the sideline!
The Cooly Classic 2.0 saw Codie Grimsey (24:46), Michael Sheil (24:53) and Ridge Grimsey (25:22) battle it out for the top three in the men's race, while 15 year old Jessica Bayliss (27:18), Sarah Windsor (28:20) and Moesha Johnson (28:47) were the top three placegetters in the women's event.
In the Gold Coast Bulletin Cooly 1000 short course (the perfect event for those embarking on their ocean swimming career!), Lara McCambridge (17:56), Shiloh Young (20:05) and Sophia Williams (20:07) were the top three women, with James Maguire (15:53), Charlie Quinn (17:13) and Harrison Barnes (17:46) the top three in the men's race.
The 300m Kids Surf Dash had Emily Schofield, Madeleine Condren, and Elizabeth Rudland as the top three female competitors, with Harrison Barnes, Jess Little, and Mackenzie Barnes as the top three male competitors.
Kings of the Coast
The final event on the calendar was Kings of the Coast, held at Caloundra on Sunday 29 April. Wild weather on Saturday 28 April forced the cancellation of some events. However, all was not lost and on Sunday 29 April it was on!
The 3.8km Ironman Challenge and the Sunshine Coast Daily Caloundra 1000 provided ocean swimmers with the perfect end to the open water swimming season.
The Weekend Warrior Events organisers decided to modify the 3.8km event (safety first, people!) so that the course was two laps of a 1.9km circuit with a short beach run in between each lap. In fact, the alterations to the course meant that competitors could sprint (or jog/shuffle/walk/crawl…you know these guys cater for everyone!) the beach run accompanied by the cheers and applause from the crowd. The hot favourite in the 3.8km Ironman Challenge was The Cooly Classic victor Codie Grimsey who lived up to expectations winning the men’s race (38:20), followed by Pierre Lopez (39:43) and Steve Pullen (40:12). Ella Brown won the women’s race (40:14), followed by Peggy Harris (45:11) and Sarah Windsor (45:53).
Entries in the Sunshine Coast Daily Caloundra 1000 were similarly impressive with over 100 swimmers lining up for the challenge. James Maguire was the winner of the men’s race (14:47), with Alex Winterbourne (15:14) in second place, and Daniel Resoort (15:36) in third place. Emily Poole was the winner of the women’s race (15:19), with Caitlin Schluter (15:22) in second place, and Deanne Johnson (17:53) in third place.
And so, that marks the end of the Queensland Ocean Swim Series for 2012 and with over 1400 swimmers taking part this year, you can expect to see some exciting developments (and quite possibly some new venues). Watch this space!
The ocean swimming season may have come to a close, but fear not, the fun isn’t over yet, Weekend Warriors! Mark your diaries for my personal favourite race — the fabulous Straddie Salute Multisport Festival on 15th and 16th September 2012 - 3 events, 2 days, 1 great weekend…
Find out more at: http://www.weekendwarriorevents.com.au/
See you there!
