Rotorua's Rebecca Firth smiles to the crowd as she finishes in fifth place in the 4km race. Photo / George Novak
Rotorua's Rebecca Firth smiles to the crowd as she finishes in fifth place in the 4km race. Photo / George Novak
Choppy seas, tricky currents and sharp rocks did not deter the record number of 233 swimmers that took on the Classic Builders Round the Mount races in Mt Maunganui yesterday.
The field was split between 207 swimmers in the 4km race and another 26 in the elite 7.5km trek furtheraround Rabbit Island before the final section home to the Main Beach.
A nasty hole on the shore just before the fatigued swimmers hit the agonising uphill sprint to the finish created extra drama and plenty of entertainment for the large crowd watching.
It was the first 7.5km swim held since 1996 and it was fitting that Bay of Plenty's Nathan Capp took out the marquee race. The New Zealand short course 1500m and 800m freestyle record holder finished the testing course in 1h 19m 54s, more than six minutes ahead of Wellington's Ben Campbell-MacDonald (1:25:17) and Nigel Marsden (1:39:57).
Papamoa's Naomi Davoren, 43, won the women's 7.5km race in 1:39:18 ahead of Tauranga's Sarah Gempton and Sarah Mortimer from Hamilton.
Mt Maunganui lifeguards took out the podium places in the men's 4km swim.
Perry Farrell, 19, backed up his Bridge to Bridge win on Saturday by defending his title in 45m 38s, with Kane Sefton, 16, second (47:26) and Hamish Miller, 16, (49:09).
Tirau's Rebecca Kingsford won the women's 4km race in 52:28, ahead of Hamilton's Mikayla Nielsen (53:54) and Nicole van der Kay (54:54) from Taupo.
