Summer at its finest. Beautiful 32 degree with overcast on a nice Sunday morning with flat water to race in. Couldn't ask for a better day.
UniSA Swimming Club saw 4 official members, Eli, Andrew, Liam, and Radek, with 1 honorary/future member Charlie White. Eli and Andrew were the first to get to Brighton at 7:30 am where they ran into Radek organizing his late registration and trying to find his motivation for the event. Radek and Eli entered in the 1500m swim while Andrew was entered in the 400m swim only and decided last minute to enter the 1500m to join the rest of the squad as Liam swam the 400 and 1500m with Andrew.
The first race was the 400m elite (invitation only) where the fastest of the fastest raced each other for the $300 grand prize. Following the elite 400m was the Men's 18-29 SLSSA 400m swim sponsored by KX pilates Brighton with Andrew, Liam, and Charlie battling it out at 9:30 am. It was a beach start so a sprint into the water was crucial at the beginning of the race. The event saw some doggies entered the starting line with 1 moved out in time before the race while the pug was waddling along enjoying the best day of his life out at the beach with the other good boys and girls. Liam finished 4th by 6 seconds in a time of 5:07, Charlie was 6th in 5:31.40, and Andrew 8th in 6:19.
There was a big wait until the 1500m where Liam, Andrew, and Eli started at 12:05 pm (male) and 12:10 pm (female), and Radek at 12:25 pm. While everyone waited, the Cancer Council Marilyn Munroe 400m swim took place at 10:50 am with a world record entry of 300 Marilyns with approximately 200 of them swam around the Jetty.
Liam and Andrew were first up in the 1500m with Liam stuck with the breakaway leading group and Andrew stuck back behind with the trailing group, however, Andrew soon lost the trailing pack and ended up swimming the race alone between the 2 groups. Liam finished the 1500m swim 2nd in the age group by 16 seconds in a time of 20:06.10, and Andrew finished 9th in 25.54.10. Andrew may have swum extra distance with almost cutting the course by almost missing a buoy completely. Andrew then got distracted 300m away from the finish line as a stingray started swimming directly under him. Iconic that the UniSA Swimming Club has a Stingray as their mascot. It was meant to be...
Eli started her 1500m race 5 mins behind the boys and she too swam her race with no one near her. Eli was on a mission to take Andrew down and beat him. Eli ended the race in a time of 25.40.80 a day finished 5th in her age group. Like Andrew, Eli also had difficulties swimming straight without the black line found at the pool and went out wide on the far end from the shoreline. Well done Eli on beating your coach, a well-deserved achievement and you should be proud.
Radek concluded the day for UniSA Swimming Club with his finishing time of 37.05.40. Radek had the support of his lovely wife Gozia and Daughter Nikki at the finish line. Radek was glad he didn't back out from the swim as he drove towards Brighton and had 30mins of contemplation to turn back and go home. Radek found his motivation from his UniSA Swim club peers to complete an amazing race. It was noted that it was the first time Eli, Andrew, and Radek swam at the Brighton Jetty Classic and it was a great event to participate in. Hope some of you are interested next year and maybe participate in the Munroe swim...
Result Summary
Liam
400m: 5:07.00
1500m: 20.06.10
Andrew
400m: 6:19.00
1500m: 25.54.10
Eli
1500m: 25.40.80
Radek
1500m: 37.05.40
Honorary mention
Charlie White
400m: 5:31.40
