A spectacular sunny day and calm waters made Noosa’a Summer Swim a wonderful event for about 1000 competitors but unfortunately another 700 missed out because of COVID19 restrictions.
Event owner John Guise of World Series Swims said restrictions changed the way the event was run this year, stretching the program to ensure social distancing but scaling it back from a two day to one day event.
John said they had to cap the number of entries, which resulted in a waiting list of about 700 people who were unable to attend, and manage their site capacity to ensure they met Council’s 500 people event limit.
Recent lockdowns in Victoria also impacted the travel plans of interstate arrivals including Olympian Michael Klim whose presence and enthusiasm has become synonymous with the popular event, leaving everyone asking, where’s Klim?
Despite his absence Noosa’s Main Beach was filled with swimmers coming and going for their events while friends, family and beach goers watched the proceedings.
Winning the major 5km swim were Sunshine Coast swimmers Bailey Armstrong and Kareena Lee of Noosa.
John said the swim series were hoping for a much bigger event with double the number of entries next year dependent on COVID19.
“There’s a huge demand for ocean swims,“ he said. “We’re finding squads up and down the Sunshine Coast. People are wanting to get outdoors and see what’s in their backyards.“
