Waikiki Much Too Roughwater

Waikiki Much Too Roughwater

Steven Munatones 09/05/2015 Open Water Swimming No Comment
Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

For only the second time in the past 46 years, the Waikiki Roughwater Swim was cancelled due to unsafe conditions.

With large swells relentlessly crashing upon the outer coral reef in Waikiki Bay, the 2.4-mile ocean swim would have been too rough and much too unsafe for the vast majority of swimmers.

“We pulled the buoys in the morning after the lifeguards gave us the word that the conditions were unsafe to run the race,” said race director Kaia Hedlund. “We did that so people would not try to go out and swim the course anyway.

A few did and they got rolled in the surf with a few scrapes. There was some really large surf out there today.”

It is always a disappointment when such a major race, especially one in a destination location like the Waikiki Roughwater Swim, but everyone can always swim another day. Especially swimmers like Pat Dixon of Southern California who has completed 29 consecutive finishes. Today would have been his 30th Waikiki Roughwater Swim finish.

Eney Jones [shown above], always a top competitor in the race, commented, “It was too rough. Multiple strange hurricane currents, 8 to 10 foot swells at the finish.”

Copyright © 2015 by World Open Water Swimming Association
Latest posts by Steven Munatones (see all)
Tags: , ,