Report by Anne Smyth, Head Coach
The Cole Classic is a huge event held at Manly on the Northern Beaches of Sydney every summer. Our club was represented this year on 1 February 2015, by three members: Chris Hoorweg, Caroline Makin and Anne Smyth.
Over 2,500 swimmers participated in the 1km and 2km swims starting at Shelley Beach and finishing at Manly. Chris, Caz and Anne all took part in the 2km swim where conditions were pretty good, a bit of a swell rounding the farthest buoy and turning the corner in towards North Steyne, and some wave sets coming onto Manly beach for the final dash to the end.
The swim, according to Caz’s GPS swim watch, was further this year (around 2.24km), but all of our members recorded good swims with Chris improving his overall ranking by 20% from last year and Caz and Anne both coming 2nd in their respective age groups and within the top 10% of all female swimmers. Full results are available.
There was a good representation by many Masters swimmers from around NSW and even VIC and is a great event to participate in – keep it in mind for 2016! … and don’t forget these sort of events are always very social and fun to be a part of. Chris was there with his family enjoying a weekend away at the beach and Anne and Caz had a great evening the night before the swim socialising with wine and great seafood with Anne’s sister Jenny and her friend Gaye who also completed the 2k event!
