Australian swimming history was made this weekend as an open water relay record was broken during the Rottnest Channel Swim. The race takes swimmers from Cottesloe Beach to Rottnest Island, covering 19.7k in the process.
Tackling the team event in Western Australia, the foursome of Cody Simpson, Mack Horton, Bowen Gough and Josh Edwards-Smith combined to clock a time of 3:33:49. En route to winning the relay, the men cracked the previous event record that had been on the books since 2018.
Ahead of the competition, Simpson told local media that his participation stemmed out of a ‘boys’ trip’.
“I’ve got a mate that I train with, he’s from Perth — Josh Edwards-Smith. He’s a backstroker on the Australian team and he brought up the idea of putting a team together to do it,” Simpson told Mix 94.5.
When all was said and done, Simpson shared his thoughts on Instagram.
“One of the coolest experiences of my life yesterday tackling the 19.7km @rottoswim with some of my best mates @mackhorton @bowengough @joshesmithh. We broke the team swim record after a whole lot of balls out swimming, jellyfish stinging, zinc and Vaseline,” read Simpson’s post.
“Without prior experience for any of us in open water swimming we couldn’t have done it without an incredible team of skippers, paddlers and boat crew to keep our strategy and our changeovers tight.
“Shout out to Mack for getting us out at the 1500m as quick as he would have in a pool. We hooked through 1-2 minute interval changeovers for 3 hours 33mins trying to keep the pace and vibe up.”
Simpson currently trains at Griffith and is eyeing qualification for this year’s World Championships, as well as the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. The 26-year-old competed at the 2022 Commonwealth Games where he placed 5th in the 100m fly and earned men’s 4x100m free relay gold and men’s 4x100m medley relay silver as a prelims swimmer.
What’s up with the suits? MSF rules state that males may not wear suits that extend above the waist or below the knees.
See: https://www.marathonswim.org/
I guess they’re not swimming under Marathon Swim Federation rules and Aussie rules allow the suits?
From the Rotto Challenge website which has its own set of rules that are generally guided by Fina Rules:
“Generally, the FINA Rules provide that a complying swimsuit must:
a. be of woven textile material;
b. not cover the neck; and
c. not extend beyond the shoulders or ankles.”
The suits in the Simpson team photo look textile and meet Final Rules.
Must have been very fast conditions out there as so many categories were swim in record times this year.
Not saying they are woosies or anything just that as far as MSF is concerned, which governs recorded channel swims such as the English, Catalina, etc…, that they would be disqualified.
MSF does record the results of the race in the Long Swims Database.
There also is a difference between the swim race and a solo crossing.
Rottnest/Freemantle/Perth are magical areas. Just got back from there on vacation and I will definitely go back some day.
Great swim by the boys! not their normal hit out for training .Hope to see you all back soon! Many records went done on Sunday. Check out the finish on you tube. Rottnest channel swim 2023. Such a cool holiday island with the famous Quakka selfie!. .