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Rottnest Channel Swim

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The start of one wave of the Rottnest Channel Swim, 2004

The Rottnest Channel Swim is an annual open water swimming event from Cottesloe Beach through Gage Roads to Rottnest Island, off the coast of Western Australia, near Perth.

Format

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The distance is 19.7 km (12.2 mi) and it is one of the largest open water swimming events in the world, with 2,400 swimmers participating in the 2015 event.[1]

It is held in February each year and is open to solo swimmers and teams of two or four. A second event, "Champions of the Channel" for elite solo swimmers, was introduced in 2016. The "Lavan Legal Charity Challenge" is an exclusive challenge for 30 teams of four for those who wish to fundraise money for a charity of their choice while competing for the Lavan Legal Charity Challenge Cup.[2]

History

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When Rottnest Island was used as a prison it was rumoured that some of the prisoners swam back to the mainland, although there is no proof that any did. However, some may have crossed by resting on Carnac and Garden Islands. The first documented crossing by a swimmer was Gerd Von Dincklage-Schulenburg,[3] 24 January 1956, in 9 hours and 45 minutes. As of October 2016, von Dinklage was aged 87 and living in the German town of Dörentrup.[4]

First races - early years

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Von Dincklages' swim led the Weekend Mail newspaper to hold the first organised race to the island later that year, in March 1956, which was completed by four participants.[5] In the years to come, the first woman to swim to the island was 23-year-old Lesley Cherriman on 13 April 1969.[6][7] She swam from Natural Jetty to North Mole and became the first female to complete a crossing, a feat she repeated on 18 February 1970 and again on 4 April 1971 from the mainland to Rottnest.

In 1990, The Rottnest Channel Swim Association (RCSA) was formed with John Whitehead as its first president.[6] Despite the modest success of the 1956 event, another organised race to the island would not be held until 23 February 1991, with sixteen solo swimmers and seven teams competing, a total of 44 swimmers. The solo event was won in 4:30:03 by Peter Galvin.[6] The success of the swim led to it becoming an annual event.[5] In 1994, Kutraleeswaran from Tamil Nadu, India became the youngest swimmer to ever compete in the race, who completed the swim at the age of 13.[8]

By 1996, the race had 52 solos, 34 duos, and 135 teams for a total of 660 swimmers. David O'Brien was winner, with Brian Parker second, and Shelley Taylor-Smith third. The RCSA president was John Guilfoyle.[6] In 1998 the Rottnest Channel Swim had 1,150 participants, and officially became the world's biggest open water swimming event.[6]

2000 to 2019

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In 2001, the history books were re-written when 2,022 people swam the Channel. The Channel Swim had grown so large, an event management consultant was hired to assist volunteers in running the event. Royal Life Saving WA began assisting the RCSA. It was this year that Travis and Jarrad Nederpelt set the duo race record with a time of 3:55:54.[6]

In 2004 swimmers began to be put into categories, with only 100 allowed to start at a time. The team record was also lowered to 3:43:02.[6] Due to the popularity of the race, and the number of support boats for the now 2,300 entrants, a ballot has been held since 2006 to limit the number of participants in the water at the same time.[6][1][9][10][11]

In 2007, the race was cancelled due to poor weather conditions caused by cyclonic activity in the north west of Western Australia. It was the first time the event had been cancelled in its history.[6]

In 2013, swimsuit regulations were introduced which comply with FINA's open water swimming rules. The RCSA was successful in increasing the number of boats in the water on event day which resulted in more swimmers participating. All finishing swimmers completed the swim well before the final cut-off time and earlier than the 2012 event.

In 2014, the first Welcome to Country was conducted by Ingrid Comming at the pre-race briefing held at Challenge Stadium (now HBF Stadium) and Professor Len Collard performed a second ceremony at Cottesloe Beach on race day.

In 2015, the swim celebrated its 25th anniversary, with one of the highlights being the release of a commemorative book. With the event outgrowing the finish line at the Hotel Jetty, the finish was relocated to the grassed area near the Fuel Jetty, which required a 20m ramp to be built over the dunes.

In 2016, the inaugural Champions of the Channel event was held, with Ben Freeman as the first male solo in 4:18:28 and Jaime Bowler as first female solo in 4:42:16. The Premier of Western Australia, the Hon. Colin Barnett, celebrated his 20th year as the official starter of the race. Tandem solos (two solos sharing one boat) were introduced.

2018 was an eventful year, with records broken, a boat sinking, a propeller strike, a 3:30pm finish and the event's first-ever shark sighting evacuation. Favourable conditions led to records tumbling with Solomon Wright setting a new solo race record of 3:59:28.[12] The prior record was set in 2000 by Mark Saliba at 4:00:15.[6] The female solo race record of 4:21:55 was set by Heidi Gan[12] and the male team record was broken by Reilly Kennedy, Callum Lauriston, Nicholas Rollo and William Rollo in 3:36:36.[13]

2020 to present

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Despite the global COVID-19 pandemic, the 30th channel swim was still held on 22 February 2020. The line honours winner was Dutchman Lars Bottelier, finishing in 4 hours, 18 minutes and 26 seconds. William Rollo finished in second place in 4:22:16 and Kyle Lee finished third in 4:25:30. The first female solo swimmer across the line was Zoe Whitfield, of NSW in a time of 4:48:09, just ahead of Josie Page in second place at 4:48:42. In 2018 and 2019 Page finished in third place.[12]

On 20 February 2021, more than 2,500 swimmers – aged between 14 and 76 – dived into the surf at Cottesloe Beach for 31st channel swim. Andrew Donaldson was the first to finish, less than a year after his return to Perth in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. Donaldson crossed the line in a time of 4:04:30, more than six minutes in front of second finisher William Rollo. Chloe Truscott was the fastest woman to complete the 19.7 km swim in a time of 4:33:20. She was seven minutes in front of her nearest female competitor, Josie Page. Winners of the Duo category were Kaiden Richings and Thomas Davis, two 16-year olds from Bunbury, in a time of 4:19:38. Swimclan Big Orse's took out the team category in 4:14:37.[14]

In 2022, Kyle Lee and Chloe Truscott were solo winners in times of 4:05:19 and 4:42:43 respectively.[15] In 2023, records tumbled with Bailey Armstrong taking first place in a record 3:48:14, and Chloe Truscott finishing with a record 4:14:13.[16] Four high profile swimmers, who have competed in the Olympics and Commonwealth Games, Mack Horton, Cody Simpson, Josh Edwards-Smith and Bowen Gough, also broke the team record in a time of 3:33:49.[17]

The 2024 event was abandoned four hours into the race due to dangerous weather conditions that saw several participants rescued and four sent to hospital. Just five swimmers reached the finish line before the swim was cancelled. It was only the second time the event had been cancelled after the 2007 swim had been cancelled for similar reasons.[18][19]

Solo Winners

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Rottnest Channel Swim Solo Winners
Year Male Time Female Time Remarks
1956 Trevor Seaborn 07:36:26 - -
1987 Ken Patrick 05:20:00 - -
1988 - - - -
1989 Col Levison 04:57:00 - -
1990 Gary McKeon 05:47:00 - -
1991 Peter Galvin 04:30:03 Nancy Warnock 05:20:04
1992 Dieter Gebauer 04:49:49 Tamara Bruce 04:13:58
1993 David O'Brien 04:02:08 Tamara Bruce 04:10:03
1994 David O'Brien 04:30:06 Tamara Bruce 04:59:23
1995 David O'Brien 04:22:24 Tamara Bruce 04:50:10
1996 David O'Brien 04:19:36 Shelley Taylor-Smith 04:33:21
1997 Grant Robinson 04:08:20 Shelley Taylor-Smith 04:34:58
1998 Grant Robinson 04:24:33 Tracey Knowles 04:37:45
1999 Mark Saliba 04:33:30 Kelly Driffield 04:47:17
2000 Mark Saliba 04:00:15 Bronwen Whitehead 04:25:53
2001 Tim Hewitt 04:59:58 Penny Palfrey 04:36:31
2002 Mark Saliba 04:08:34 Melissa Benson 04:39:21
2003 Michael Ormsby 05:57:35 Melissa Benson 05:46:28
2004 Mark Saliba 04:02:44 Penny Palfrey 05:12:42
2005 Jarrad Nederpelt 04:10:14 Jaime Bowler 04:30:31
2006 Deke Zimmerman 05:01:43 Melissa Benson 05:16:34
2007 John Edwards 05:28:18 Penny Palfrey 04:41:13
2008 David Cox 04:46:34 Melissa Benson 04:41:27
2009 David Cox 04:40:44 Jaime Bowler 04:56:18
2010 Deane Pieters 04:41:35 Louise Stevenson 05:07:21
2011 Tim Hewitt 04:50:49 Louise Stevenson 04:56:42
2012 Jarrad Lawford 04:29:22 Jessica Walker 04:44:06
2013 Jeremy Brooke-Smith 04:34:37 Jessica Walker 04:47:54
2014 Paul Laver 04:14:04 Elizabeth Bellis 04:52:32
2015 Kane Radford 04:25:59 Grace van der Byl 05:03:17
2016 Benjamin Freeman 04:18:27 Jaime Bowler 04:42:15
2017 Jarrod Poort 04:12:22 Rebekah Weller 04:52:03
2018 Solomon Wright 03:59:28 Heidi Gan 04:21:55 First sub-4 hour solo swim
2019 Sam Sheppard 04:11:22 Jaime Bowler 04:44:41
2020 Lars Bottelier 04:18:26 Zoe Whitfield 04:48:42
2021 Andrew Donaldson 04:04:30 Chloe Truscott 04:33:20
2022 Kyle Lee 04:05:19 Chloe Truscott 04:42:43
2023 Bailey Armstrong 03:48:14 Chloe Truscott 04:14:31 New Male and Female Records
2024 Abandoned due to weather

References

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  1. ^ a b Wynne, Emma (12 November 2015). "2016 Port to Pub: New Rottnest swim planned to meet demand for gruelling ocean crossing event". ABC Radio Perth. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  2. ^ Le Messurier, Danielle (25 February 2016). "Siblings Ben and Jenna Freeman making waves ahead of Rottnest Channel Swim's inaugural Champions of the Channel race". PerthNow. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  3. ^ "GURD IS ALWAYS READY FOR CALL OF THE SEA". The Daily News. Vol. LXXIII, no. 24, 615. Western Australia. 15 October 1955. p. 3 (FIRST). Retrieved 31 March 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ Acott, Kent (12 October 2016). "How a boast over a beer lead to the first Freo to Rottnest swim". The West Australian. West Australian Newspapers Limited. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  5. ^ a b "History of the Rottnest Channel Swim". Rottnest Channel Swim Association. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Law, Peter (18 February 2015). "Humble start for homegrown icon". PerthNow. Western Australian Newspapers Limited. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  7. ^ "Regarding Schulinburg, Voigt, and Cherriman". Archived from the original on 2 September 2007. Retrieved 12 September 2007.
  8. ^ "Why Kutraleeswaran stopped swimming". rediff.com. 6 October 2005. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  9. ^ Meaney, Lesley; Access Press (1994), Why swim to Rottnest when you can catch the ferry? : eighty years of open water swimming in Western Australia, Access Press, ISBN 978-0-949795-86-1
  10. ^ Weetman, Deborah (2015), Champions & everyday heroes : the 25th anniversary of the Rottnest Channel Swim, Rottnest Channel Swim Association (published 2014), ISBN 978-0-646-92772-5
  11. ^ Rottnest Channel Swim Association (1900), Rottnest Channel Swim year book, West Australian Newspaper Limited, retrieved 18 February 2021
  12. ^ a b c Wilkinson, Carmelle (22 February 2020). "Dutchman Lars Bottelier takes line honours in 2020 Rottnest Channel Swim". PerthNow. West Australian Newspapers Limited. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  13. ^ "Brief History". Rottnest Channel Swim Association. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  14. ^ "'Retired' Rotto winner on how he clinched big finish". The West Australian. 20 February 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  15. ^ admin (27 February 2022). "They made it! - Rottnest Channel Swim 2022". Fremantle Shipping News. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  16. ^ "Records SMASHED as thousands take on Rotto swim challenge". PerthNow. 25 February 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  17. ^ "'Balls out swimming': Cody Simpson, superteam break world record". Fox Sports. 26 February 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  18. ^ "Rottnest Swim cancelled after poor weather makes conditions unmanageable". The West Australian. 24 February 2024. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
  19. ^ "Dangerous conditions force cancellation of Rottnest Channel Swim part way through event". ABC News. 24 February 2024. Retrieved 24 February 2024.

Further reading

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