Ky said, “It was anything but easy though because [Codie Grimsey and Brendan Capell] were on my back all the way to the beach. I couldn’t relax for a second because they came on really strong. Codie is a great up-and-coming swimmer who led for the majority of the race and Brendan is a pretty high-calibre athlete too. I hadn’t done too much training for this, which made the victory all the more gratifying.”
The Byron Bay Winter Whales Ocean Swim Classic results are here with the top 10 below. Of special note was the performance of world 5K champion Melissa Gorman who closely chased some of the world’s top ocean swimmers.
1. Ky Hurst, 19:38 2. Codie Grimsey, 19:40 3. Brendan Capell, 19:41 4. Melissa Gorman, 19:45 5. Trent Grimsey, 19:51 6. George O’Brien, 20:29 7. James Fennell, 20:35 8. Jackson Van Der Zant, 20:37 9. Danielle De Francesco, 20:44 10. Joshua Richardson, 20:45
Southern California native, born 1962, is the creator of the WOWSA Awards, Oceans Seven, Openwaterpedia, Citrus Corps, World Open Water Swimming Association, Daily News of Open Water Swimming, Global Open Water Swimming Conference. He is Chief Executive Officer of KAATSU Global and KAATSU Research Institute. Inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Swimmer, Class of 2001) and Ice Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Contributor - Media, Class of 2019), recipient of the International Swimming Hall of Fame's Poseidon Award (2016), International Swimming Hall of Fame's Irving Davids-Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award (2010), USA Swimming's Glen S. Hummer Award (2007, 2010) and Harvard University's John B. Imrie Award (1984). Served on the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee and as Technical Delegate with the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games, and 9-time USA Swimming coaching staff. Note: WOWSA only recommends products or services used or recommended by the community. WOWSA does not receive compensation for links or products mentioned on this site or in blog posts. If it does, it will be indicated clearly on that specific post. See WOWSA's privacy policy for more information.