1972 Olympic triple gold medalist Sandy Neilson-Bell has a lot on her plate at the upcoming Money Box Cap 2k. The charity swim has a split personality with both highly competitive and merely leisure swimmers enjoying the 2K course from Red Bud Isle to the Texas Rowing Center near Austin as well as being site of the High School Open Water Texas State Championship.

The event promotes clean water, health and fitness, and helps raise money for Swimability, which provides funding for swimming lessons for Austin’s disadvantaged children. Participants will include 1968 Olympian Peter Williams with ages ranging from age 15 to 71.

Sandy described last year’s event, “Bowie High School’s Andrew Phillips swam through the finish line three hundreths of a second behind the overall winner and defending champion Connor Nolan, and one hundreth of a second before Southlake Carroll’s Ted Singley. This year, Phillips and Singley are favored to battle it out for both the overall and the High School Open Water Texas State Championship. Southlake Carroll’s Open Water team, should easily win its fifth straight Boys and Girls Texas High School Championships in 2011. Houston’s Marc Hensel and recent University of Texas swimmer Andrew Wang are the top masters competitors.

Spectators can best view the entire race from the Cap 2k Cruise on the Capital Cruises double-decker boat, which accompanies the race, or from the Mopac Pedestrian Bridge.

The American Swimming Association organizes the event which is the only known American state high school championship in the open water world.

Photo by John Moore.

Copyright © 2011 by World Open Water Swimming Association