18th January 2009 marks the 90th Anniversary of the Swim Thru Perth -
Presented by Claremont Masters Swimming Club, this historic event is the oldest open water swimming race in Australia. The 2009 Xstrata Nickel Swim Thru Perth features 2.2km and 4km swim in Perth's Swan River.
4km swim
On a warm overcast morning my husband, Max and myself competed with approximately 170 other solo swimmers in the 4km swim. The start is at Barrack Street Jetty and finishes at UWA Water Sports complex, Matilda Bay.
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Preparation of The Swim Thru Perth finish line. Event course and Perth City in the background
Three buses took competitors to the start from the UWA Water Sports complex. Along the route to the swim start, people walking and driving were giving us odd and queer looks ... why? we are all sitting or standing in the buses wearing only our bathers!!
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Competitors boarding buses
We all carefully waded a short distance through the muddy bed of the Swan River and swam out to the starting line just west of Barrack street jetty. Here, there is always chatter and laughter until the sound of a loud hooter is heard, then with shouts and plenty of hands and feet splashing, we all commenced the 90th Anniversary Swim Thru Perth.
As instructed during the event briefing, we stayed close to the Northern foreshore and about 1km down the river swam through the Northern opening under the 'Narrows Bridge'. Along the way are big yellow and red buoys marking the route and at all times we must swim between them and the foreshore for safety reasons.
After swimming past the historic 'Old Brewery' (now a restaurant), I was fortunate enough to swim most of the way side by side with a swimmer who has a similar pace to mine. What a difference this makes, both of us swimming strong and pushing each other along, even through the patches of white jellyfish with stinging tentacles and big brown, saucer shaped jellyfish - thud! on the head ... thud! on the shoulder .... UGH!! (how do you spell 'manawars').
I had a trip down 'memory lane' when swimming past the exact spot where Crawley Baths used to be based. The swimming baths was the home of The City of Perth Swimming Club when I was a member and plenty of wonderful memories are still with me of great times and great swims.....
Hey! stop memorising, where's that swimmer? Oh, there he is, just a short distance in front, get going Carrol and catch him up. Nothing like memorising and talking to one's self in the middle of a race.....Hmmm.
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Carrol finishing the 4km Swim Thu Perth (Time 1:04:48)
At the finish we thanked each other for the company and a great swim together, then told each other to wipe our rather dirty faces clean!
This is approximately my 20th Swim Thru Perth and one of my favourite swims. It is always well organised and I congratulate all involved for the events tremendous success over the years. Results: http://www.claremontmasters.org/
Just keep swimming - a breathtaking experience
