Ocean Beach offered near-perfect conditions for this year’s Southern Ocean Classic Mile with 125 swimmers taking to the water on Easter Sunday.

Line honours went to Perth swimmer Max Coten who completed the course in just over 19 minutes.

Not far behind him was fellow Perth swimmer Mike Ledger and coming in third place was Giocomo Lucivero.

The first female to cross the line was Rene Watson in 22.06 minutes followed by Christine Murray and Britt Ackerly in third place.

There was also a big contingent of local swimmers this year including Warren Black- wood MLA Jane Kelsbie, Murray Thornton and Jill Sheed, club president Sam Williams and long-time clubbie George Mumford.

This year a new course was introduced with marker buoys placed in a line, parallel to the beach.

In previous years swimmers completed two loops of a rectangular course.

Feedback from swimmers on the new layout was positive.

Event director Ranee Wilson said there had also been great feedback on the overall event from both swimmers and spectators.

People enjoyed coming to this event and this year there were even a few interstate swimmers.

“People always comment on the great vibe and there’s always so much positive feedback on our friendly, supportive and competent water safety crews who are incredibly important when swimming in open water,” Ranee said.

There had been increased sponsorship of the event this year with the newly-formed Ness Fyfe Foundation coming on board.

“We are incredibly grateful to all our local sponsors as SOCM is a major fundraising event for our club and community,” Ranee said.

See the full gallery of photos in the issue

This article appeared in the Denmark Bulletin, 6 April 2023.