Pair of Swims History

The fast swim was first done as a proper swim in 2016 by the FS president. in 2017 it was held as an informal event under the Koha Racing banner. The long swim was done as a trial by the president in 2017. Both events were held more formally under the FS banner in 2018.

Episode 1: [Fast Swim] Feb 3rd, 2018. Participants: 21 Fatalities: 0 Injuries: 1 (hypothermia) Finishers: 20

The water was LOW in the Waiau (0.44 m below normal) and everyone got to 'touch' something during their journey down it. No one was seriously hurt though, and most agreed that it was pretty exciting to always think you were about to come face to face with a giant submerged boulder. The temperature was relatively warm however, and it was a fine day. (Fun fact: The fastest time this year was nearly 30 minutes slower than the fastest result from 2017, when the river was over 2 meters higher.) RESULTS

Episode 1: [Long Swim] Feb 4th, 2018. Participants: 6 Fatalities: 0 Injuries: 0 Finishers: 6

A great day on the water! The field moved quickly across the lake (with a few extra swimmers joining for the first 3 km) and then into the river where most seemed to take it easy and 'float' through much of it, saving energy for the long haul in lake Manapouri. A little NW'er picked up and pushed the swimmers home by the afternoon. RESULTS

Episode 2: [Fast Swim] Feb 9th, 2019. Participants: 14 Fatalities: 0 Injuries: 0.5 (near hypothermia) Finishers: 14

The water was LOW in the Waiau (0.25 m below normal), but not as low as last year. It was warm and overcast and we had nearly as many support boaters as swimmers. It was a good event with 3 seconds separating the first two swimmers, and only seven minutes separating the whole field. One swimmer swam without a wetsuit. Everyone agreed that was pretty dumb, including the swimmer in question. RESULTS

Episode 2: [Long Swim] Feb 10th, 2019. Participants: 8 Fatalities: 0 Injuries: 0 Finishers: 8

Woo Hoo! Tail winds all day, with building intensity. Big crazy waves all the way to the finish and a river that finisher Jane Sutherland described as shit-balls scary. Anything that can make a 60 year old woman say shit-balls must be pretty cool, right? Yeah, we thought so too. RESULTS

Episode 3: [Fast Swim] Jan 11th, 2020. Participants: 12 Fatalities: 0 Injuries: 0 Finishers: 12

Finally some good flow! (0.45 m above normal) As a trade off however we had unseasonably cold water temperatures (13 degrees C), such that many of the swimmers experienced the dreaded claw. We had a good race at the front and some happy 'nervous' swimmers at the back. A handful of locals, a handful from the North Island (Wellington) and a token American that *almost* took this year's crown. All up another great year. RESULTS

Episode 3: [Long Swim] Jan 12, 2020. Participants 3 Fatalities: 0 Injuries: 1 (hypothermia) Finishers 2

A rough start to the swim meant almost an extra km of swimming across lake Te Anau and extra cold water due to the up-welling. This took out one swimmer. The other two (who happened to be friends from Wellington) pushed on, swimming the river together. Both finished across an equally choppy lake Manapouri, one successfully completing his longest swim (time-wise) by more than double. The other becoming the double finisher of the long swim. Good times. RESULTS EVENT REPORT

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