Braving 5 Bridges river swim

For more than 70 years swimmers have been braving the waters of the Waikato River for the 5 Bridges River Swim and now the call is on for corporate teams to take the plunge.

The team event is a new addition to this downstream 7.1km swim which takes swimmers under Hamilton's five central bridges starting at Hamilton Gardens and ending at Ann St Beach.

Westpac was the first to take up the challenge and the team comprising area manager Hamish Ward, business managers David Gibson and Louisa Price plus regional manager Steve Atkinson may be the team to beat.

Hamish and David have swum the event many times and Louisa and Steve are regular ironman participants.

They hope to get in some team training at the municipal pools and say their goal is to post a decent time on the day.

"The key is to find the fastest part of the river," Steve laughs.

The Westpac crew will be joined by another team heading down from Auckland but say they would love to take on other corporate teams.

"It would be great to challenge other businesses such as Perrys, Gallaghers and Opus," Hamish says.

Race organiser Eleanor Pinflod says most swimmers can expect to take around an hour to complete the swim and the corporate teams of four need at least one female member.

"We hope to attract more competitors with this event and it is something new and fun."

The corporate team event winners will be decided by the average time of all the team's swimmers.

Registrations are now open for individuals and teams - contact Eleanor on (07) 854 9874, 027 417 0211 or ele-ross@wave.co.nz.