This weekend the annual Noosa Summer Swim celebrates its ninth birthday with an action packed weekend of ocean swims on Noosa Main Beach.
Sunday will host the main day of events with 1km, 2km, 3km & 5km courses as well as the Junior Giants event – a 300m course designed for kids aged 8 – 16 years.
On Saturday, new small group sessions have been added to provide expert coaching and an introduction to local conditions for those looking for an adventure.
World Series Swims Director, John Guise, says they have been blown away by the growth in numbers over the past two years.
“We had record entries in 2021, even with all the COVID restrictions and we were hoping for a similar result this Summer’
“This weekend we’re likely to have over 2000 participants for the first time ever and that’s also a first for any Queensland ocean swim too – the sport itself is growing rapidly in Queensland”
Guise also says there have been some valuable lessons to come out of operating events during the COVID pandemic.
“Overcrowding is obviously something that every event organiser has tried to avoid over the past two years”
“By building in more time between event start times and allocated Check-in times for each distance, we were able to avoid congestion in 2021 and this will be a feature of our program again this year”
“It has actually improved the overall experience we think, for participants, supporters and the general public”.
The event also regularly attracts elite swimmers from around Australia for the marquee Noosa 5.0 event, but it is local Sunshine Coast swimmers who have dominated this in past years.
Past champions have included Chelsea Gubecka, Nick Sloman, Hayden Cotter, Bailey Armstrong and 2020 Tokyo Olympic medallist, Kareena Lee.
Public transport has also been added this year, with a free shuttle bus added to transport participants and supporters from Noosa Junction to Hastings St.
“The event continues to grow so we are adding new elements to cater for this growth – we hope that the shuttle service will be popular and take some pressure off traffic in and around Hastings St”
Online entries for all Noosa Summer Swim events are available until 12:00pm Saturday February 19.
More information on the program and all courses can be found at worldseriesswims.com.au/
The Noosa Summer Swim is proudly supported by Tourism Noosa, the Queensland Government through Tourism and Events Queensland and local partners, Emerald Noosa, the Noosa Heads Surf Club and Sunshine Beach Surf Club.
