Nelson swimmers dominate Auckland ocean swim

Oxford Bayley and Abbey Smale were the clear winners in the male and female divisions in race seven of the Banana Boat Ocean Swim Series, held in Auckland on Saturday.

The two Nelson swimmers were also later declared winners of the series, but although it was a clear cut victory for Smale, it was nail-bitingly close for Bayley.

A dire weather forecast put the race start in jeopardy, but the 700-plus swimmers got off to a safe start in six waves just prior to full tide.

The winners made the return journey in less than half an hour in relatively calm seas, but conditions worsened the longer the race went on, making things difficult for the less proficient swimmers.

Smale, who lives and trains in Richmond and attends Garin College, won all six of the races she took part in, so her win was a formality in terms of the series, which is calculated on the best of three races.

Nevertheless, she took nothing for granted, sticking with the lead group to finish in fifth place, just over a minute behind Bayley.

For Bayley it was a must-win situation.

Going in to the weekend, the Nelson College student having just one victory in the series under his belt, while Auckland swimmers Alex Dunkley and Brent Foster already had two wins each.

In the event, Bayley split the field, to win by half a minute from Axel Wolfarth, with a further 30 seconds back to Jayden Collins and Dominic Fawkner.

On a countback of head-to-head encounters between the series leaders, Bayley was declared the winner narrowly from Dunkley with Foster in third place.

In age group competition, Nelson swimmers took three medals, with Derek Eaton narrowly beaten to take second in M75-79, Stuart Hebberd winning the bronze in M70-74 and Maggy Johnston also winning bronze in F65-69.

Eaton features in the series results, narrowly missing out on the top spot to take second, while Johnston was placed third in the series in her age group.

Although they didn't make the trip north for the final swim, Christina Harris won the series in F55-59, Dick Bennison was the best of the M65-69 age group and Hamish Neill was second in M55-59.

With the weekend's racing completing the Banana Boat series for the summer, a new event is on the horizon, with the mid-winter Hot Springs Spa Iceberg swim scheduled for Waiheke Island on July 3.