Due to COVID19 Level 2 restrictions Race 16, Thursday, March 4th has been cancelled. As there will now be only 16 swims this season points will still be calculated on the best of 11 results for each swimmer. If another swim is cancelled, making the series one of 15 events, the series results will be calculated on the best 10 …
Port Nelson Sea Swims, Race 14, February 18, 2021
Oxford Bayley and Abbey Smale are on target for the 5km Banana Boat swim in Akaroa on Saturday, the event doubling as the regional secondary schools championships. Oxford had the normal battle with Hayden Squance, taking out the win by two seconds, while Abbey was placed third ahead of Ben Marshall and old geezer Hamish Neill (57). The 1650m course …
Clements Windows and Doors Endurance Series, Race three, February 14
It was a wild ride for the 91 competitors in this new addition to the swim calendar. Hayden Squance (pictured) made one critical decision which gave him an edge over Oxford Bayley at the midpoint of the race and he carried this advantage all the way to the finish. The plan was to swim from the yacht club, out through …
Port Nelson Sea Swims, Race 12, February 4, 2021
Fabulous swim of just over 1500m and 700m, with 127 swimmers taking part in short and long courses. The long course went off to the dolphin, then south to the black yacht by the Richardson St Steps, then back along Rocks Rd. In the long course, Hayden Squance set off in front in the first leg across to the dolphin, …
Port Nelson Sea Swims, Race 11, January 28, 2021
That was a real ripper. It was one of those nights when the swim could have been cancelled and many would have heaved a sigh of relief. The compromise was to hold the races of shortened courses – a decision most people were happy with. At 5pm, the tide had just turned. Low tide had passed and the current from …
Port Nelson Sea Swims, Race Eight, January 7, 2021
Lovely swim tonight of about 1250m. Oxford Bayley led the way home, followed by Hayden Squance, some swimmers from Aquagym in Christchurch, then Nic Hall and Alec Swan, swimming without a wetsuit. Abbey Smale was the first woman, followed by Isabella Thurlow, swimming without a wetsuit, Brooke Swan and Christina Harris. Results have been messed up by a non-registered swimmer …
Swimmer profiles
The Covid-19 lockdown has been just the time to write some profiles on swimmers – to help our Nelson swim community get to know each other. I’ll be trying to publish a profile each day, adding them to this page as we go – Peter Gibbs The profiles will also be available on Facebook at The Nelson Sea Swim Zone …
Banana Boat Ocean Swims. Final rankings 2019-2020
The official rankings for the Banana Boat Ocean Swim Series are out. In the end, the rankings were formulated using each swimmer’s best two swims (rather than the three that would have been the case had all swims been held). Abbey Smale (pictured) was the comfortable winner of the overall title, displacing year’s winner Sierra Thomas, who placed third in …
Port Nelson Sea Swims, final night, March 12, 2020
It came upon us so fast – the end of the season. For those still swimming around the country, there’s still three Ocean Swim Series events to go, but here in Nelson it’s the end of the line until November. Featured photo: A sight you never see. Luke Kelly with a cap – is he in fancy dress? The final …
Banana Boat Ocean Swim Series race four, The Interislander Big Tahuna
What a fantastic day and what a fantastic event. The weather was perfect and the sea was beautiful as Nelson swimmers took the first five places (Luke Kelly, Hayden Squance, Fergus Drummond, Oxford Bayley and Abbey Smale) overall in the 3k race, as well as seventh (Terry Bone), 10th (Isabella Thurlow), 12th (Hamish Neill), 15th (Sierra Thomas) and 19th (Matt …