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Perth to
Rottnest Island Solo Swim, 22km
6 consecutive swims from 1998 through 2003
Held the 3rd weekend of February each year
From Cottesloe Beach to Rottnest Island in Western Australia
The Perth to
Rottnest Island Swim takes place in the Indian Ocean. There were
approximately 40 swimmers in 1991. There are now over 2000
swimmers who do this swim, either as solo, duo or teams of 4.
With its growth in popularity the Rottnest Channel Swim became
the world's largest open water swimming event in 1998 attracting
1,150 competitors. There are swims with larger numbers of
participants but these are conducted in closed waters of bays,
lakes and rivers, not through an open ocean channel. The history
books were again rewritten in 2001 with participation levels of
2,022.
In 2003, 160 individuals, 92 teams of 2 and 421 teams of 4
entered the swim with a wait list of 135 teams who,
unfortunately, missed out on competing. The conditions were the
worst in the history of the swim with 12-15knot westerly winds
and early squalls forecast, which presented turbulent water for
the duration of the event. However, many swimmers did not start
the event, many retired or were withdrawn during the event for
safety reasons; and only 43% of competitors who entered the swim
completed it.
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The weather makes this swim either nice and
comfortable or choppy and horrendous. |
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Year |
James' Time |
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1998 |
7 hours 51
minutes |
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1999 |
8 hours 59
minutes |
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2000 |
7 hours 42
minutes |
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2001 |
8 hours 31
minutes |
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2002 |
9 hours 3
minutes |
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2003 |
10 hours 3
minutes |
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You can see by the year 2000 time that conditions
were superb with a sunny day and almost no wind. |
James'
Reflections:
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1998:
There was a fog, and we
started with nice swimming conditions; but as the day went
on, the conditions got worse, and we ended up with 7' cross
swells and 7' straight swells. I ended up vomiting
twice but got to the end of the event and was very pleased
to finish the event. |
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1999:
The only thing I
remember about this event is that the last half of the swim
was against a 30km/hour wind and that every time my paddlers
put their paddle up to paddle, it went behind their heads.
It was a struggle the last half of the swim but, again,
relieved to finish. |
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2000:
This was the most perfect swimming conditions of all the six
swims I did, with almost no wind and no swells. I
think that it might have been an unusual wind behind us, and
I did my best time of all of the swims.
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2001: I will
always remember 2001 because two weeks prior to the swim, I
pulled an intercostal muscle that runs between the ribs and
helps form and move the chest wall. All I wanted to do
was just finish the swim. The conditions were
fantastic again; and it certainly helped me not having to
contend with any swells or choppiness with my injury from
two weeks prior. |
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2002: I can't really
remember much about this swim. My brother paddled for
me that day; but, again, I was relieved to finish, and I
can't remember the conditions. |
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2003: The conditions
of this swim were horrendous with a 20km/hour head wind
right from the start at 5:45am. The event was delayed
30 minutes, and there was a 3' chop for the entire event.
In the individual solo event, 160 started the event; and
only 66 people finished the event. The winner normally
does it in roughly 4 hours. The winner in 2003 did it
in 5 hours 56 minutes. For me, going through 3' chops
and not seeing them each time, was extremely challenging.
It was also even more challenging for my paddler. I
have to say that I was so thrilled to just finish because it
was a great challenge. I was extremely tired
from just persevering all day against the wind and chop.
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