By Heather McNeill and Jesinta Burton
Three female records have been broken in the annual Euroz Hartleys Port to Pub Rottnest swim on Saturday, which saw more than 1500 people cross the 19.7-kilometre stretch from Leighton Beach.
Josie Page tackled the gruelling 25-kilometre women’s solo ultra-marathon swim in just six hours, one minute and three seconds, beating the record held by predecessor Rebekah Weller by almost eight minutes.
Callum Greenshields took out the top spot in the men’s category, traversing the distance in five hours, 51 minutes and 57 seconds.
Duo ‘Seal the Deal’, featuring Jaimee Trarger and Bianca Petite, after setting a record in their category.Credit: Clip Media.
Record holder Ben Jimmieson, who swam the 19.7-kilometre race in 4 hours, 49 minutes and 20 seconds last year, won the solo male category for the second consecutive time.
Amity Cambpell was the first woman to cross the finish line in the solo swim with a time of five hours, 15 minutes and 20 seconds.
Duo ‘Seal the Deal’, featuring Jaimee Trarger and Bianca Petite, set a record in their category, finishing in four hours, 46 minutes and 40 seconds.
This year’s iteration of the Subi Sports Sista’s, consisting of Chelsea Gubecka, Bianca Monaco, Chantal Liew and Rebekah Weller, managed to break the record the team set in 2023.
Callum Greenshields took out the top spot in the men’s ultra-marathon category.Credit: Clip Media.
Byron Kimber, Kristian Seidl, Flynn Czaplinski, Andrew Morris, Xavier Collins, Hayden Ferguson were the first male team of six to cross the finish line, completing the race in three hours, 49 minutes and 49 seconds, while Jaime Bowler, Todd Pearson, Tim Hewitt, Mike Ledger were the first team of four.
The event sold out for the first time in its nine-year history, with more than 1500 participants aged between 13 and 75 setting off from Leighton Beach early on Saturday in near-perfect conditions.
A total of 54 participants tackled the gruelling 25-kilometre ultra-marathon solo, while a record 126 completed the 19.7-kilometre open water swim alone — three times the number that competed last year.
Josie Page beat the women’s ultra-marathon record by almost eight minutes.Credit: Clip Media.
More than 140 duos and almost 1100 corporate teams registered to take part in the annual K&L Gates Corporate Cup.
The bumper participation in the event comes just weeks after the Rottnest Channel Swim was abandoned mid-swim for the first time in its 34-year history due to dangerous weather conditions, forcing thousands of swimmers from the water.
More than 1500 swimmers took part in Saturday’s Euroz Hartleys Port to Pub swim.
The swim also included an AFL derby on the water, with former Fremantle Dockers players for Matthew Burton, Paul Hasleby, Jamie Merillo, Jason Norrish, Lee Spurr losing to former West Coast Eagles players Drew Banfield, Mitchell White, Will Schofield, Ashley McIntosh, Jamie McNamara and Nick Stone.
Former Fremantle star Shaun McManus said it felt “amazing” to complete the race after six months of training and a “false start” in the Rottnest swim.
This year marked McManus’ first solo swim after having competed with the Fremantle Dockers team in previous years.
And he joked that it may have been his absence that cost them the win over the Eagles.
“It was a bit of a false start the other week, but we all love competing in the Port to Pub,” he said.
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