The lineup of bluebottles along the shore was pretty scary before the race. In the event, there were a few stings, but most people escaped unscathed.
Terry Bone shook off some recent upsets to resume normal service at the front of the long course. He was never challenged as he led a chase group around the 1400m course.
By the finish, the first four swimmers were well spread, with Ben Marshall, Jasper Sneddon and Lilly Claridge next to reach shore. It was a welcome result for Lilly, who has been plagued by frisky occasional swimmers all season.
Hamish Neill is one of the best 60+ swimmers in the country. He continued his dominance of this age group, finishing fifth, ahead of Motueka 16-year-old Zac Woods, Jody Laing (returned older and wise after several years away), Max Stanton (15 and getting faster every day) and Haydn Lockie (who never slows down), who was tenth.
Christina Harris is another mythical swimmer in the 60+ age group. She finished 12th, taking out the second women’s spot ahead of teenagers Nia and Keshia Linyard.
In the antique section, there was a record number of five swimmers. Ben Van Dyke, 74, is still finishing in the top 20 percent of swimmers – 22nd this week – while 76-year-old Peter Gibbs, to his chagrin, just keeps getting slower, slipping to the bottom tenth of the field.
While on the subject of 60+ swimmers, Roger Matheson is doing his best to make an impression on the teenagers in the short course event. Tonight Roger swam stroke for stroke with 12-year-old Phoebe Diamond over the 650m course, with Phoebe edging ahead to take a narrow win.
Ara Wyatt suited up to take third ahead of Tony Munnerly, Chloe Styles and Audrey Farreyre.
Results, click here
Points, click here