The Sorrento foreshore was full of activity when the Sorrento Bay Swim was held on Sunday 19 January.
There was a full program across the morning, with over 550 people entering the open water swim, which included 600m, 2,000m, and 4,000m courses. Entrants ranged from 8 to 89 years of age!
The male and female winners of the 2,000m Open Category Tommy Hafey medals presented by Maureen Hafey were Darius Schultz and Sophie Caldwell, with times of 00:23:08.343 and 00:24:30.343 respectively. Ayden Coates and Rebecca Henderson took out the Elite 4,000m event, which for the first time was a straight-line course from Cameron’s Bight to The Baths jetty, with times of 00:46:37.157 and 00:50:01.107. In the Junior 600m event, Cooper Edwards and Alyssa Rodopoulos took out line honours, and Silas O’Hara and Michaela Rutherford won the Novice 600m division. All the results can be found at www.sorrentoslsc.com/swim.
Support to run the event was received from local businesses, community groups, and members of the Sorrento Surf Life Saving Club. Rye RSL kindly provided courtesy buses and drivers to transport entrants to the start lines and Sorrento SES and Rye Lions Club provided valuable logistical support.
Great support was also received on the water from Southern Peninsula Rescue Squad and Dromana Surf Rescue.
Club President, Jane Wright said “It was a fantastic day, everything ran smoothly, and we had some really positive feedback. Our new straight line 4,000m course was a hit and it was great to see so many people turn out to both swim and support the swimmers. We’re extremely grateful to all our sponsors, without them we wouldn’t be able to run this event, and everyone’s looking forward to a bigger and even better event next year.”
Funds raised from the Sorrento Bay Swim will be used to purchase important safety equipment used to patrol the back beach over summer. It also enables the provision of a Surf Awareness program to learn surf safety through the Club’s excellent junior program.
Your Community Bank Rosebud/Dromana/Rye are major sponsors of the event and many local businesses and organisations also support the Swim, including Mornington Peninsula News Group and Bay Print and Design.
