A gem of a day for annual Ruby Swim race

From primary school pupils to serious competitors, hundreds of people turned out on a perfect Wanaka day for the Ruby Island swim on Saturday.

Race co-director Eddie Spearing said it was an exceptionally good day with 460 people entering, the second highest number ever.

Four course records were broken with the men’s 10km and 5km and the women’s 10km and 2.5km times being bettered.

Wanaka swimmer Cameron Stanley smashed his own 10km record in 2:7:48,nearly six minutes faster than the 2:13:31 he set in 2020.

After the race, Stanley said the conditions had been really good.

"The water’s flat and warm, which is really nice. It’s probably the best conditions of any year I’ve done the Ruby."

Despite struggling a little in the final lap he was pretty happy with the result, he said.

Stanley was already entered in the Whakatipu Legend swim, in Queenstown, in March.

First in the women’s 10km swim was Emilia Finer in 2:09:30, beating the previous record of 2:40:44.

The men’s 5km was won by Ian Dixon-Anderson in 1:06:41, faster than the course record of 1:07:54, set in 2021, and the women’s was won by Maeve Kennedy in 1:13:14.

The Ruby, a 2.5km swim, was won by Olivia Thornbury in 00:33:14, just faster than the course record of 00:33:33. The men’s was won by Janus Staufenberg in 00:30:34.

Thornbury and Staufenberg are New Zealand triathlon high-performance athletes.

By: Julie Asher