First Royal Alfred Marina Mile a great success
THE Royal St Andrews Hotel East Festival literally started with a splash last Friday afternoon, as 33 swimmers braved a chilly wind and 16°C water for the inaugural Royal Alfred Marina Mile open water swimming race.
The event attracted locals and visitors, including a couple from the US who were in town to visit family and decided on the spur of the moment to enter the race.
One of the organisers, Avril Beyleveld of the Kowie Striders, said she was pleased with the turnout as the weather might have dissuaded people.
Swimmers jumped into the water from the Halyards Hotel jetty to head for the starting line at the entrance of the first canal of the marina. Then they set off down the canal and back along the main channel of the Kowie River to the finish at the small boat harbour slipway.
Some entrants chose to swim in wetsuits, but were informed in the pre-race briefing that because of the extra buoyancy provided by a wetsuit, swimmers just in swimming costumes would be recognised for prize winning placings ahead of any winner in a wetsuit.
See the full story in this week’s Talk of the Town.
