Hardy swimmers from throughout Otago, many without wetsuits, brave the chilly water of Queenstown Bay on Saturday. PHOTOS: SUPPLIED It was either ‘‘splash and dash’’ or just chilling at the fourth annual RealNZ Whakatipu Legend winter swim in Queenstown on Saturday. Organiser Richie Lambert said 39 swimmers braved a ‘‘pretty chilly’’ 7.7˚C in Lake Wakatipu as they swam the 500m ‘‘The Frigid’’ or the 1km ‘‘Bone Chilling’’ course. However, that was warmer than the 4˚C air temperature on the Queenstown Bay lake shore on what he called a ‘‘classic Queenstown winter’s day’’ of blue sky and no wind. Nearly half the participants, who included a big contingent from Dunedin’s ‘‘Frozen Sea Dogs’’ group, swam without wetsuits, Mr Lambert said. Participants took two main approaches to the event: either racing to get back on land as soon as possible, or taking their time and enjoying the sensation of cold water on skin. The first woman overall in the 1km swim was Dunedin’s Jemimah McIlroy (19). She used the event as part of her preparation for swimming 50km from Glenorchy to Queenstown this week, during which she will be swimming 10km a day for five days. Cromwell’s Cameron Stanley on the way to winning the 1000m ‘‘Bone Chilling’’ swim in Queenstown Bay on Saturday. Cameron Stanley was the first male in the 1km, completing the distance in a rapid 15 minutes and two seconds. Arrowtown’s Finn Henderson (17) was first male in the 500m swim, and Billie Druett (16), also of Arrowtown, won the female category. Mr Lambert said a noticeable change over the years was the growing number of younger people taking up open water swimming, a sport that had traditionally been dominated by swimmers older than 30. guy.williams@odt.co.nz
