Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

It was a view of Hong Kong that few business people, shoppers and foodie travelers get to see.

As hundreds of people of various backgrounds and ages hit Big Wave Bay and headed towards Shek-O Back Beach, the Jax Coco Shek O Challenge offered the perfect mixture of sunny skies, warm water temperatures, and mellow conditions.

There was 3 categories and 7 different races in the 2014-2015 World Open Water Swimming Series event.

An athlete could compete in the solo 2.2 km swim, 8.5 km run or 9 km ocean paddle. They could also go duo with 2 racers doing a Swim + Run, or a Swim + Paddle, or a Run + Paddle. The event also offered the Trisolothon (3 racers, one person per race) in a Swim + Run + Paddle competition.

The top ocean swimmers included:

1. Craig Andrew Nortje 31:25
2. Eric Johnson 32:25
3. Oscar Coggins 32:27
4. Angus Kelleher 32:41
5. Richard Letcher 34:05
6. Doug Woodring 34:45
7. Warren Lockner 34:49
8. Aneekah Styles 34:53
9. Henry Wright 35:01
10. Doug Woo 35:12
11. Stefan Rust 35:47
12. Ben Jesse 35:51
13. Matthieu Barry 35:54
14. Andrew Wright 36:11
15. Stuart Tait 36:54
16. Farah Master 37:00
17. Arthur Li 37:23
18. Sam Thorley 37:27
19. Ryan Carpenter 37:43
20. Sophia Lai 37:46
21. Jane Kelsey 37:46
22. Maddie Howell 37:49
23. Jonathan Paul 37:49
24. Emma Snyder 37:52
25. Ken Thorley 37:53
26. Barry Choi Ting Tung 37:56
27. Sean Whipkey 37:58
28. Raul Guerra 38:02
29. Sheryl Slater 38:14
30. Jeff Faoali 38:48

Watch short video of top swimmers here. The event also included beach polo.





Copyright © 2014 by World Open Water Swimming Association