Ben Stubenberg provided this update on the first race of the West Indies Bluewater Swim Series 2011, the
Nevis to St. Kitts 2.5-mile Cross Channel Swim: The 9th annual 2.5 StarMile 2.5 Nevis to St. Kitts Cross Channel Swim ended in a photo finish by two world-class athletes: Olympian triathlete Olivier Marceau from Switzerland and two-time Ironman world champion Chris McCormick from Australia.
Chris led the race from the beginning, but Olivier edged him out by just one second with a time of 58:09.
The female winner, Emma-Kate Lidbury from Great Britain, had an easier – and impressive – victory when she finished third overall in a time of 1:02:40, setting a new course record for women. Maria Cimonetti of the USA finished second in 01:09:59and Jacqueline Jodham of Trinidad & Tobago finished third in 01:21:38.
100 swimmers from several countries participated in cross-channel race, reflecting the span of the open water swimming world ranging in ages from 10 to 66. True to inter-island swims, the race started smoothly, but the conditions quickly grew choppy and more difficult.
Emma-Kate explained, “The swell and currents made sightings near impossible, so I think we all ended up swimming more than 2.5 miles. It’s a truly beautiful setting for a race and there were several times when I had to pinch myself.” Race director Winston Crooke said “One of the attractions of this event is that it is not only a race, but also a challenge.”
Men’s Results:
1.Olivier Marceau(SWI) 00:58:09
2.Chris McCormack (AUS) 00:58:10
3.Ben Greenfield (USA) 01:07:07
4.Ben Britton (USA) 01:10:50
5.Ian Osborne (GBR) 01:14:07
Women’s Results:
1.Emma-Kate Lidbury (GBR) 01:02:40
2.Maria Cimonetti (USA) 01:09:59
3.Jacqueline Jodham (TTO) 01:21:38
4.Terry Latham (USA) 01:22:15
5.Chelsea Mohammed (TTO) 01:22:42
The next three races of the West Indies Bluewater Swim Series include the Saint John Beach-to-Beach Power Swim in the U.S. Virgin Islands on May 29th (1, 2.25 and 3.5 miles), “Race for the Conch” EcoSeaSwim in Turks & Caicos (1 and 2.4 Miles) on July 9th and Maracas Bay Open Water Classic 2.5K and 5K in Trinidad on September 25th.
Additional photos are here.
Copyright © 2011 by Open Water Source