Breathtakingly beautiful Autumn weather and 336 rapidly breathtaking swimmers enjoyed the Sunday’s 11th Hotondo Homes Broulee Bay to Breakers Ocean Swim
“After another difficult year and challenging recent weather, it was great to see such enthusiastic participation in this community event. Good for the spirit,” said Gary Pettigrove, President of the Broulee Surfers Surf Lifesaving Club. “ But it was touch and go. It was looking dodgy last Tuesday with the murky water and driftwood from recent rains However the water risk assessments were OK and we switched the course to an out and back one in North Broulee Bay. The good vibes of a fun swim in a beautiful spot were still present.”
Alec Morris cleaned up the Open Male fastest swimmer with 17 min 9 sec and
Jordayne Rauter powered home to win the Open Female in 20 min 0 sec.
Wendy Dunn swimming for the 11th time, she hasn’t missed one, won the over 80s for the second year in row and was still composed enough to pose graciously for the camera. Another veteran local, Peter Halpin, plodded efficiently to the line to come second in the over 70s men.
Recidivism was rife. Neil Kennedy again led a big Goulburn posse, many wearing zinc symbols supporting Ukraine. The Dunn family from Canberra resumed rivalries with father Vincent getting the bragging rights over son Oliver and daughter Charlotte. “He cheated” Charlotte explained “by training and wearing a wetsuit. “
Gary Pettigrove praised the volunteers who ran the event so efficiently and thanked the sponsors - Hotondo Homes (the major sponsor), Broulee Supermarket and Cellars, , Bay Physiotherapy and Pilates, FX Business Centre, Woolworths Moruya,
The $10000 raised from the event will be split between Broulee Mossy Point Community Association ($1000), the flood appeal for Surf lifesaving organisations in northern NSW ($1000) with the balance going to the Broulee Surfers Surf Lifesaving Club,
Age division winners 1.4km swim
Under 16 Female Rosie McPartland 20 min 51 sec
Under 16 Male Hugo Hayward 20 min 50 sec
Under 20 Female Nina Thorne 20 min 33 sec
Under 20 Male William Aiken 20 min 23 sec
Over 20 Female Hayley Baker 21 min 52 sec
Over 20 Male Lucas Soars 18 min 43 sec
Over 30 Female Jess Martin 21 min 56 sec
Over 30 Male Chris Chie 19 min 56 sec
Over 40 Female Melanie Wellenberg 19 min 21 sec
Over 40 Male Michael Harding 19 min 13 sec
Over 50 Female Nicolee Martin 22 min 30 sec
Over 50 Male Norm Lenehan 21 min 8 sec
Over 60 Female Jane McCallum 21 min 51 sec
Over 60 Male Gordon Huges 21 min 36 sec
Over 70 Female Lindy Dunn 31 min 23 sec
Over 70 Male Tim Booth 26 min 02 sec
Over 80 Female Wendy Dunn 38 min 19 sec
All age Flipper Lisa Whiting and Penelope Green (tie) 26 min 4 sec
Results 500M Swim
Under 12 Female Vivienne Gaffey 10 min 26 sec
Under 12 Male Monty Lloyd Jones 9 min 29 sec
Under 14 Female Annika Thorne 8 min 13 sec
Under 14 Male Louis Hayward 8 min 26 sec
Novice Emily Tugwell 12 min 44 sec
Jordayne Rauter powered home to win the Open Female in 20 min 0 sec
Lucas Soars and Jarrod Killey in a close tussle for second place in the Open Male section
Chris Chie first in the over 30s men
Nina Thorne wins the over 20s female
Wendy Dunn of Broulee won the over 80s for the second year and was still composed enough smile for the camera
Broulee veteran Peter Halpin plodded efficiently to finish 2nd in the over 70s
Neil Kennedy of Goulburn was relieved to see the finish line
Oliver, Charlotte and Vincent Dunn of Canberra resumed family rivalries. Vincent won but only because he trained and wore a wetsuit according to Charlotte
Goulburn was again well represented thanks to Neil Kennedy
Broulee Surfers Surf lifesaving president Gary Pettigrove marshalls swimmers at the start
then, a wave of swimmers set off
