Swimmers break records at iconic McArthur River Mining Darwin Ocean Swim
Swimmers took to the sea in the iconic Darwin open water swim setting several record times at Casuarina Beach on Sunday morning. SEE FULL LIST OF RESULTS
Northern Territory
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COMPETITORS took to the sea in the iconic Darwin open water swim setting several record times at Casuarina Beach on Sunday morning.
This year’s results at McArthur River Mining Darwin Ocean Swim saw swimmers clock faster times at Casuarina Beach than at previous events held at Fannie Bay due to ideal swimming conditions.
Darwin Surf Life Saving club member Adam Van Wessel was the first to cross the line in the 1.2km shortcourse, clocking a time of 18.29.
“I did alright. To be honest I was a bit slack, I should have done the 2.1km,” he said.
“It was good fun anyway.”
The 16-year-old said he wasn’t afraid of encountering a croc while swimming in the ocean.
“I’ve been swimming here for a while so it was all good,” he said.
“I swam last year and I won that as well.”
Meaghan Jones had her husband waiting at the finish line with a beer that she could enjoy a beer after a “week of being off the piss”.
“Beginning was quite hard, the tide was coming in so we were fighting against that but as soon as we got to the first buoy it was quite beautiful and breezy,” she said.
The winner of the 2.1km long course was James Smith who completed the swim in a time of 24.34 with Meghan Gallagher being the first female across the line with a time of 26.08.
Rachel Brodie was the first woman across the shortcourse line in a record time of 18.54
Director of finance and life member of Darwin Surf Life Saving Club and life member of Surf Life Saving Australia, Bob Creek, said the Casuarina Beach course had made for the record times.
“The results turned out to be actually faster times than we would have normally have had at Fannie Bay,” he said.
“The response from the swimmers themselves was that it was a fantastic swim.
“The conditions were just ideal for swimming. It was a straight swim along the dripstone cliffs.
“For those who like ocean swimming it was fantastic and we were very surprised at the positive feedback.”
The atmosphere on the morning was relaxed and cheerful, with nobody seemingly concerned about coming face-to-face with a croc.
“We did due diligence a week before in terms of making sure that the croc patrols were reporting back to us, which was undertaken by Parks and Wildlife,” Mr Creek said.
“They do them regularly anyway but they escalate those patrols prior to our swim a few days before and so generally speaking, it was all clear.
“We had a risk assessment meeting at 7am, and took into account any conditions that we needed to be really concerned about.
“Everything was clear, so we were very pleased.”
Last year surf club stalwart Peter Stewart, 60, died during the event of arrhythmia, a condition where the heart stops sending signals to the brain, as he approached the finish line of the annual swim event.
A year on and Mr Stewart’s wife Sharon Stewart co-ordinated the event in honour of her husband.
“She was very keen to make sure that the event continued on,” Mr Creek said.
“To a point where she said, “the water safety at the time last year was first class, nothing could have prevented that. It’s going ahead, and that’s what Pete would have liked”,” Mr Creek said.
“When she took it on, everybody just piled on board and co-operated and contributed.
“The surf lifesaving club community, those who have key roles in terms of water safety, emergency management, all that type of thing were very mindful.
“(Mrs Stewart) was eager to make sure the event proceed and it did and as it turned out, it was very much a celebration.”
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