Tuesday, June 08, 2010Swim the Sound 2010 by Founder Mark Smith
Swim the Sound
Brooks Ross from the University of South Carolina (SCU) Swim Team shattered Austin Lindsay's record in the 3.5 mile route of the 2010 VISAR Swim The Sound which took place yesterday in the North Sound, Virgin Gorda. His winning time of 56 minutes and 14 seconds was 10 minutes faster than Mr Lindsay's time set in the inaugural edition of the swim last year.
Brooks was joined by 58 swimmers from the BVI, USVI, Jamaica and USA who all finished the 3.5 or 2 mile course from Saba Rock to Leverick Bay. Russell Willings was last person to cross the line in a time of 2hrs 11 minutes, however he swam the entire route wearing full VISAR crew kit of a splash suit, bulky life jacket and helmet!
The SCU Swim team topped off the top 3 places in the competition with Matt Columbus, & Daniel Jackson all finishing within the previous record time of 66 minutes.
Tory Lane also broke Gordon Overing's 2009 record in the 2 mile course in a time of 48 minutes and 19 seconds.
First lady across the line, Jude Woodcock of St John completed the long course in a time of 1hr 33mins, Claire Potter was 2nd on 2hrs 45 seconds and Gillian Plaxton, who had only decided to take part a few days earlier, taking 3rd place in 2hrs 4 minutes 49 secs.
The majority of the swimmers chose to swim the shorter more direct 2 mile course from Saba Rock to Leverick Bay with Tory Lane and John Herlitty battling to be first over the line and Antony Spencer putting in a strong performance to take 3rd place.
Katherine Britt and Sara Stevens tussled for 1st place with Katherine claiming victory in 54 minutes in 13 seconds and Sara finishing just 10 seconds behind Katherine, Amanda Grant was 3rd.
Speaking after the race, Matt Columbus of SCU said "We all enjoyed the swim and I think we were all surprised by how hard the last half of a mile was swimming into the current. I hope we can come back next year and swim it again and who knows maybe some more college teams will come down to swim it as well"
With so many swimmers in the water, safety kayaks and VISAR rescue boats kept a watchful eye on all the swimmers whilst crowds at VISAR's Waterworld event also got a chance to participate by taking part in Swim Cap Bingo, with the numbers on the swimmers caps acting as the draw numbers!
Event co-Organiser, Becky Clarke said " It was a wonderful day all round. The buzz in the morning rallied the swimmers and gave the awaiting crowds a spectacular start to Waterworld. All the families who came to support the Swimmers or purely to join in with Waterworld had a blast from start to finish."
Race Director, Ian Mann added, "The day ran like clockwork and the volunteers did an amazing job. An event like this simply cannot happen without the support and civic duty of the many volunteers, including time keepers, administrative support, kayakers, and safety support. I felt enormous pride that the race was such a success and that we had ensured that every swimmer that ventured across the North Sound was brought safely out of the water at the end of the race. Safety was my number one concern."
Founder of Swim The Sound, Mark Smith, was incredibly pleased that the 2010 edition was such a success, "The Swim has the potential to grow into a landmark event for the BVI in much the same way as the St John Beach to Beach swim has put the USVI on the International Swimming Map, this will be of economic benefit to all businesses in the North Sound and the growth of the event should be encouraged. I'd also echo Ian comments, that without the support of all the volunteers and sponsors this event would not be able to take place".
All profits from the Swim were donated to VISAR .Swim the Sound will return in 2011 and organisers are hoping to double the number of entrants.
VISAR and the Organisers would like to thank the sponsors of Swim the Sound for their support, Sail Caribbean Divers, Bitter End Yacht Club, Saba Rock Resort, Leverick Bay Resort, Caribbean Insurers, Tool Town, Speedys Ferries, Ceres Juices, Proudly African, North Sound Express.