Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

In a field of 951 swimmers and over 42 years, it was clearly Australia’s day. George O’Brien set an all-time event record of 43:40 in the Waikiki Roughwater Swim while 22-year old Luane Rowe continued her event dominance with her fourth straight title in 49:06. The 2011 race also marked the fourth straight year in which the Aussie’s swept the male and female titles on Waikiki.

Kacy Johnson was the fastest local swimmer with a time of 45:59 and 8th place overall finish. Former winner John Flanagan won the 35-39 age group division and was 10th overall (46:09). Donovan Pope won the 13-14 group (51:10). On the female side, a pair of locals turned in a top-10 placement with Christina Boring taking 7th (53:00) and 15-year old Jasmine Mau coming in 10th (53:20). Maia Petrides won the 11-12 females in 59:20, as did Betty Ann Barnett in the 65-69 division (1:03.09). Miki David took the 40-44 female group (55:33) and Ernesto Leskovitz the 70-74 male (1:17.40). The youngest swimmer, nine-year old Dylan Becker of Las Vegas, finished in 1:20.25. The oldest, William Burgess of Honolulu, checked in at 1:51.34. 35 of the top-100 swimmers hailed from the Aloha State.

The 42nd Waikiki Roughwater Swim was held in conjunction with Swim with Mike, a scholarship fund providing financial means for advanced education to physically challenged athletes. This year’s scholarship recipients included University of Southern California Junior Michael Fritschner and University of Puget Sound Junior and former University of Hawaii student Corey Obungen. Both students were standout football players and victims of spinal cord injuries while vacationing in Hawaii.

A special thank you goes to Alaska Airlines for sponsoring the live online broadcast that was viewed by people throughout four continents, proving that open water swimming has a global audience hungry for real-time information, especially for major races and swims in beautiful locations.

Results Top 50 Overall:

Place Name No. Div Div City St Time Penalty
===== =================== ===== === ======= =============== == ======= =======
1 GEORGE O’BRIEN 63 1 M-OPEN BRISBANE QL 43:40
2 CODIE GRIMSEY 4 2 M-OPEN CASHMERE QL 43:40
3 TRENT GRIMSEY 51 3 M-OPEN CASHMERE QL 43:44
4 ALEXANDER STUDZINSK 183 1 M25-29 43:51
5 RHYS MAINSTONE 66 1 M19-24 PERTH WA 43:56
6 CHIP PETERSON 52 2 M19-24 LA HABRA CA 45:06
7 KANE RADFORD 10 3 M19-24 AUCKLAND AU 45:07
8 KACY JOHNSON 13 1 M15-18 HONOLULU HI 45:59
9 ALEX KOSTICH 8 1 M40-44 LOS ANGELES CA 46:04
10 JOHN FLANAGAN 189 1 M35-39 46:09
11 DAVID SCHLESINGER 9 2 M35-39 STUDIO CITY CA 46:26
12 JAYSON HAGI 15 4 M19-24 KAPOLEI HI 47:16
13 COLIN COOMBS 22 5 M19-24 HONOLULU HI 48:26
14 JAMES CLARKE 835 6 M19-24 HONOLULU HI 48:33
15 STEVE ALLNUTT 14 7 M19-24 HONOLULU OR 48:40
16 IAN DUNHAM WHEELER 20 8 M19-24 YAKIMA WA 48:56
17 CHRIS YONTEZ 180 1 M45-49 LOS ANGELES CA 49:03
18 LUANE ROWE 23 1 F-OPEN BERKELEY CA 49:06
19 SIGI HILL 75 3 M35-39 COLLAROY NS 49:19
20 CHRIS ECKERMAN 76 4 M35-39 AUSTIN TX 49:28
21 JACOB URBANO 44 2 M15-18 KAILUA HI 49:35
22 BRYAN RAHTER 73 2 M25-29 HONOLULU HI 49:44
23 SHELLEY CLARK 71 2 F-OPEN MEREWETHER NS 49:50
24 ALISTAIR MACLEAN 922 9 M19-24 HONOLULU HI 50:59
25 DONOVAN POPE 1128 1 M13-14 HONOLULU HI 51:10
26 JUSTIN BREWER 89 10 M19-24 SYDNEY NS 51:28
27 PETER THIEL 27 5 M35-39 WAVERTON NS 51:29
28 GRANT LEVY 178 2 M45-49 BEVERLY HILLS CA 51:34
29 ZOE ELKERTON 70 3 F-OPEN SHELL HARBOUR 51:47
30 NOEL KAWANO 113 3 M15-18 HONOLULU HI 51:52
31 RACHEL KNOWLES 50 1 F13-14 PLEASANTON CA 51:52
32 BRUCE THOMAS 30 1 M50-54 HERMOSA BEACH CA 51:55
33 TODD BRYAN 86 1 M60-64 BOULDER CO 52:13
34 MATTHEW CORNUE 25 6 M35-39 LOS ANGELES CA 52:15
35 BOBBY PATTEN 21 3 M45-49 DALLAS TX 52:15
36 CYNTHIA LEWIS 84 1 F35-39 SAN CLEMENTE CA 52:18
37 JAKE GLICK 111 3 M25-29 EL SEGUNDO CA 52:38
38 TAIGA HASHIMOTO 42 4 M15-18 HONOLULU HI 52:50
39 KRISTEN BENNETT 80 1 F15-18 PASCO WA 52:56
40 CHRISTINA BORING 46 1 F19-24 HONOLULU HI 53:00
41 KATIE GLENN 114 1 F30-34 PALO ALTO CA 53:02
42 CHRIS ALLEN 68 4 M45-49 CLONTARF NS 53:04
43 LARRY KRAUSER 87 1 M55-59 SPOKANE WA 53:08
44 SEAN TERADA 119 5 M15-18 HONOLULU HI 53:14
45 MICHAEL MCCAFFERY 28 2 M55-59 HILLSBOROUGH CA 53:14
46 SUZANNE HEIM-BOWEN 103 1 F50-54 WALNUT CREEK CA 53:15
47 JASMINE MAU 120 2 F15-18 HONOLULU HI 53:20
48 CONNOR DAMASCHI 190 6 M15-18 53:29
49 BRYAN BUCK 81 5 M45-49 IRVINE CA 53:33
50 STEVEN CZEKALA 117 2 M50-54 OAKLAND CA 53:44

Complete results are posted here.

Copyright © 2011 by World Open Water Swimming Association