Rick Heltzel has won the ‘Double Roughwater’, officially billed as the 28th Possibly Annual Hawaiian Christmas Looong Distance Invitational Rough-H2O Swim, for the umpteenth time this past weekend.

With conditions the best in the race’s 28-year history, it was the first time that all swimmers finished under three hours over the 7K course.

With the start right under Diamond Head volcano and a turn point near Honolulu Harbor, Rick and Bill Goding both saw dolphins swimming under them as they led the field the entire way. The top finishers included:

Men:
Rick Heltzel (52), 1:37:36
Bill Goding (56), 1:40:03
Bruce Thomas (52), 1:41:46

Women:
Kathryn Taylor (24), 1:45:25
Gail Grabowsky (46), 1:45:42
Kate Costello (28), 1:46:52

As usual, the Who’s Who of Hawaii came out for a nice 7K swim off the shores of the world-famous Waikiki Beach in Honolulu. Uber-marathon swimmer Linda Kaiser finished 28th overall in 2:10:48 while masters standous 72-year-old Ernie Leskovitz finished strongly in 2:01:49 and 75-year-old Vernon Knight finishing in 2:35:10.

Young and old, first-timers and veterans, the longest swim on Oahu always attracts a crowd.

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