By Mark Heenan
OCEAN Grove Surf Life Saving Club president David Pavia crowned the inaugural Ocean Open Water Swim Festival a success with more than 400 participants competing on Sunday.
The K rock Ocean Open Water Swim Festival was held in warm conditions and favourable surf at Ocean Grove main beach on 29 January.
“For our first event, everything run very smoothly – we got terrific feedback from many of the competitors who said they enjoyed the (swim) course,” Pavia said.
“We were blessed with fantastic weather.”
Four events were held including the 400m Junior Swim, 600m Novice Swim, 1.2km Classic Swim and 2.5km Enduro Swim.
Pavia expects the Australia Day weekend club ocean swim fundraiser to be an annual event held in late January.
“The Australia Day long weekend is a weekend where there are no surf carnivals in Victoria,” he said.
“We see the Queenscliff Boroughcoutas (Blue Water Challenge) and our swim held the day before as complementary to each other.”
Ocean Open Water swim king Sam Sheppard (25:40) blitzed the field in the 2.5km Enduro Swim to beat Tim Boness (27:58) and Ocean Grove local Mark Stone (29:01).
Stone also finished second in the 1.2km Classic Swim in the 50-59 age group in 15:25.
It was a golden summer for Melbourne-based Sheppard with wins at Anglesea, the Danger 1000 in Torquay, Rip View swim in Point Lonsdale and claimed seventh title at the Pier to Pub in Lorne.
Sheppard, the event Open Ocean Water Swim Festival ambassador, said it was an enjoyable swim.
“It’s a good swim and it’s a nice little course … I had a ski leading next to me the whole way so navigation was easy – it was nice to get a wave at the end,” Sheppard said.
“Full credit to Ocean Grove Surf Life Saving Club for putting on such a good swim – hopefully it can build from here.”
Darius Schultz (13:58) claimed overall honours in the 1.2km Classic Swim, while Melbourne-based Belgrave South local Kelly Stubbins (14:46) was the first female across the finish line.
Aoife Harkin (08:02) won the 400m Junior Swim, while Ocean Grove competitor Jemima Asher (09:00) finished second in the female category and came fifth overall.
Ocean Grove SLSC competitor Flynn Kinsey (08:36) won the 600m Novice Swim, while local youngster Charlie Mahoney (10:49) came third.
