Event organisers received accolades for such a smooth and enjoyable race – but most credit really belongs to God and Walter Burley Griffin.
God, for organising such a balmy day, whisper-still water, and a seemingly miraculous warming of the lake by 5 degrees in just 2 weeks, to a sublime 21 celcius...
... and Walter Burley Griffin, whose vision of a man-made lake formed the centrepiece of his winning entry in the competition to design the nation's capital city back in 1911.
In many ways, the lake itself – so much maligned in recent years – was the star of the show, reminding us how lucky we are to have such a sublime presence at the heart of our community.
Gabriel Mecs made the most of the ideal conditions, returning from 2 successive second placings in recent years to win the unwetsuited Open Male category in the splendid time of 2:17:20. Craig Kentwell took out the Men 50-59 division at his first attempt in 3:05:51.
Nicola Davidson was first home in the unwetsuited Open Female category in 2:43:55.
In the wetsuit division, a tremendous tussle between Oliver Bourne and Josh Berry saw these two rising stars swimming virtually stroke for stroke along the entire lake, until they stood up to run from the water to the finish line – Oliver proving superior in the sprint, to set a new course record in 2:03:20. Oliver set a new record for the first leg, and he and Josh now share the record for the 4th leg. Meanwhile, Bonnie Frankcom took the women's category in 2:30:25, including setting a new fastest time for the 4th leg en route.
Outstanding swim of the day came from 70+ competitor, Geoff Llewellyn, who took more than half an hour off his previous best time for the 9 km swim, establishing a new age-group record of 2:50:26. Geoff humbly gave credit to his new wetsuit, but we all know it's what's inside the wetsuit that counts – and in Geoff's case, that's all heart!
The "Sunday Swimmers" – Kim Crawley, Tara Booth and Melissa Carters – took out the all-women teams category in 2:53:00, while the all-male prize was claimed by the "Performance Tri" team of Corey Bacon, Shane Farrant, Adam Rudgley and Andrew Irons. Michael Gaffney and Graeme Wolfenden teamed up as the "Mollymook Ocean Swimmers" to win the inaugural all-male 50+ team award.
A superb effort came in the mixed teams, where "Team Plenty Quick" – Ciaran Penty, Jessica Trafficante, Dylan Apelqvist and Georgia Hardy – missed out breaking the elite 2 hour mark by a mere 25 seconds. Both girls in the team set new best times for their respective legs.
Full results – by category and overall – are published, along with a photo album from the event. The next Sri Chinmoy National Capital Swim will be staged on 14 November in 2010.
