With seven more sessions to go, the tension and the tenacity are on the increase while the water temp and the daylight are on the decrease. Undeterred (or mildly unhinged), 112 keen ol’ salty souls cheerfully launched themselves into the 17 degree water to tackle Brendan’s latest fever-dream and vie for table top supremacy. The surface waters looked peaceful and insta-worthy, but looks can be deceiving, the still and calm surface conditions belied the Havens tidal kick. In the end, it was a good old-fashioned scrap between youth and experience to see who’d suffer the least. Once again, volunteers – you absolute legends – we literally cannot do this without you. And Rylock… honestly, we’re not sure what you’ve done to deserve us, but we love your work and we’re not giving you back.
Looks like we need to bring back the LINZ auditor coz there were a lot of after match discussions about the 1100m course, maybe Brendan forgot to carry the 1? Whatever the maths crime, the unholy alliance of tide and confusion shook up the leaderboard: Max Stanton snatched back the rubber title with a jetpack-worthy time of 15:42.6, while Mia Pugh pipped previous leader Nia Linyard by 1 second, in a time of 15:46.5. Man, the top of the table is getting exciting. Meanwhile, Finbar Hansen and Fran Harris remain dominate in the cloth class with blistering times of 16:31.0 and 19:52.1 respectively. I think someone needs to make sure those two are not wearing fins!
Not to be left off Brendan’s cirque de challenge, the 400m short course saw a new winner Macey Yeo storming home in the rubberised category in an impossible time of 7:39.8, rocketing up the leaderboard into genuine top-spot contention. Her male rubber cell bandit, Dave Taylor, was not far behind in a time of 9:17.6, also making a bid for the top spot. In the ‘free and easy’ division, Rodney Hansen is unstoppable making 9 wins from 10 starts, dominating the top of the table like he pays rent up there! Newbie Lena Micoulet stakes a claim for top of the table in the female ‘impervious to cold’ division in a time of 11:27.4. Keep an eye on her – and maybe draft a little.
So, my rubber-headed, four-eyed whānau, February is going to be interesting. It’s a short, short week, but keep the training up, keep the banter spicy, and we’ll see you all back next Thursday. And remember – tides are like your bank balance at the end of the month – mostly low, occasionally high, but always concerning! Ka kite!
Race 11 – Rylock Summer Swim Series, 29 January 2026
31 January 2026
