Ocean Swim

2nd Fiji Ocean Swim
Mana Island Resort
Saturday, August 27, 2005
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World-ranked Australian sweeps Fiji Ocean Swim Festival

Australian international swimmer Josh Santaceterina make a clean sweep of elite events in the 2nd Fiji Ocean Swim Festival when he took out the 3km Fiji Ocean Swim off Mana Island on Saturday. Santacaterina, who was bronze medalist in the World 5km Open Water Championship in 2004, beat countryman Brendan Capell by 8 seconds, with New Zealand iron man Brent Foster in 3rd.
Capell was world 25km Open Water Champion in 2004 and is the current World 25km silver.

In Friday's 3-race sprint series, Santacaterina took all three swims over 800 m, 600 m, and 400 m with Capell and Foster 2nd and 3rd each time. On Saturday, Santacaterina and Capell swam virtually stroke for stroke for most of the swim, until the final reach when Santacaterina took a half length lead. Capell came at the leader again on the way back into the beach, but he stepped into a corrugation in the sand, allowing Santacaterina to skip away to the finish line.At the finish, Santacaterina won the 3km race in 34 minutes 54 seconds , with Capell 2nd in 35:02 and Foster 3rd in 36:46. Race organiser Paul McCoy said it was "the most exciting race we've seen in the South Pacific Ocean swims. You couldnt have scripted a tighter, more desperate contest.. Either Josh or Brendan could have won. But Josh got in front then Breden stepped into a hole .... well, what can you say?

"They are two really great athletes. We're so lucky to have them swim for us in Fiji."

In the women's event, long time rivals, Trudee Hutchinson and Shelly Clark, staged another dogged battle, finally taken out by Hutchinson by 40 seconds after Clark lost her way near the finish. Hutchinson won in 38:05, with Clark 2nd in 38:48. 3rd was former Fiji Olympic Swimmer Sharon Pickering-Smith in 44:11. Santacaterina, Capell Hutchinson are training partners in Brisbane's Indooroopilly Pool in Australia. Former World 5 km champion Grant Cleland took out the 1.5km even after pulling himself out of his sick bed with sunburn.

The 2nd Fiji Oceans Swim, the main event in the Fiji Ocean Swim Festival, attracted 143 swimmers, 89 in the 3 km swim and 54 in the 1.5km event. Its by far the biggest ocean swim event in the South Pacific. Competitors and hundreds of spectators lines Mana Island Resort's North Beach to watch the event, which attracted hundreds of visitors from Australia, New Zealand, the USA, Japan, and even Argentina. This represents a 350 per cent increase on numbers for the last year's inaugural Fiji Ocean Swim.

Event director Paul McCoy said, "The Field grew dramatically due to the quality of the venue and the quality of the competition. "Mana Island is acknowledged by the world ocean swimming authorities as the best venue in the South Pacific for an ocean swim, "McCoy said.

"The swim seems to have developed a terrific reputation in its short history. We're careful to run the event at high tide and the visiting swimmers love to pit themselves against the best swimmers that Fiji has to offer. Santacaterina described the Mana Island course as "one of the best swim courses I've ever done. "It's warm water and good water, great scenery, a very beautiful place ....What more could you want?," Santacaterina said. Part of Santacaterina's and Hutchinsion's prizes is a trip back to swim in next year's 3rd Fiji Ocean Swim Festival, scheduled for August 26, 2006.

We had the total of 158 swimmers, who came all over the world, Argentina, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, United States including as Fiji swimmers, about 25 Fiji Swimmers also took part in the event. Lautoka swimmer Luke McGrath won the inaugural Big Swim prize of a trip to Australia to swim in The Big Swim in Sydney in January as first Fiji swimmer home, "McCoy said. "It's really a tribute to the quality of Mana Island as a venue, too. It shows how good the venue is for ocean swimming races."

Major sponsors of the event include Mana Island Resort, Air Pacific, Fiji Water, Powerade, SunAir, Sea Fiji, Aquatrek, Pure Fiji, with support from Nads and Fiji Visitors Bureau. The Fiji Oceans Swim is the largest, and fastest growing ocean swim in Fiji. It's linked with the highly successful Vanuatu Ocean Swim and the new Espiritu Santo Aore Swim.