Port Campbell SLSC Ocean Swim 2023

An extended summer period without any decent swell in the area ended last Friday when waves like these rolled in along the Victorian west coast. The swell on Saturday wasn’t too bad either.

Little Henty Reef just off Hayley Point at Marengo (near Apollo Bay)

Hayley Point last Friday

Port Campbell ocean swimming race on Sunday 5 February 2023

I have swum in many organised ocean swimming races along the Victorian west coast over the last 30-40 years. My clear favourite is the swim at Port Campbell. While it can present calm conditions, typically it does not. The bay is completely exposed to wild weather and big seas from the southern ocean. There is no land mass between this part of the Victorian coast and Antarctica. These factors mean that on most occasions when this annual swim is held, it is a proper ocean swim. Last Sunday was no exception. While I comfortably swam the course along with the other 300 participants, I would not have contemplated doing it alone in those conditions without the safety backup.

This swim has always had relatively small numbers of participants compared to some of the bigger races along the coast. But it seems the secret is out, as there were over 300 swimmers this year. I can recall when numbers were much smaller and everyone swam together in a single race. On Sunday there were a series of race waves, so that the numbers on the course at any one time could be kept low (which helps with safety management).

The big swell which pounded the coast on Friday and Saturday, had it arrived on race day, would have seen the race cancelled. But the weather and the swell started to ease by Sunday, and while conditions were still challenging, the swim went ahead.

Safety presence in the water had been substantially increased in comparison with previous years. SLSC rubber ducks, coast guard jet skis and lifesavers on rescue paddle boards were positioned right around the course, with a concentration of rescue craft at the riskier points. One such point was the seaward turning buoys where the water was deep and currents were flowing. Near the buoys there were also sizeable waves which were breaking at times. I commend the organisers for this very effective mantle of safety over the participants in the race in these challenging conditions. I also commend them for not cancelling the race. The organisers said the course had been shortened from 1200m to 1000m because it was unsafe to have the seaward turn buoys any further outside the heads of the bay. But according to my Garmin watch, I still swam 1220m: 560m to the first turn buoy out to sea, 80m across to the second turn buoy and 580m back to shore.

The cliffs along the western side of the bay. There was a substantial current running out to sea along this side of the bay. This rubber duck was collecting and repositioning a course buoy which had drifted towards the cliffs before the first wave of swimmers had left the beach.

While I was swimming the course turn buoys could not be seen much of the time, especially when I was in the troughs between waves. As for navigating to the first turn buoy, I used the headland on the right as a guide and only looked ahead for a navigation glimpse when on the crest of a wave.

The first turn buoy – where a left turn was required for the short swim east to the second turn buoy.

This photo illustrates the difficulty for lifesavers of keeping an eye on swimmers in these conditions.

Some of these breaking waves reformed inside the bay near the jetty and broke over swimmers heading to shore on the last leg. Such waves breaking in deeper water in light wind conditions are gentle on swimmers – even fun at times. I just kept an eye out for waves behind me as I swam to shore with this following sea.

A surf lifesaver was posted on the jetty with binoculars and a two way radio – using the vantage point to keep an eye out for any swimmer who looked as though assistance was or might be required. Liz was on the jetty and heard this lifesaver directing the crew in an IRB to a swimmer who had stopped swimming. The boat responded and the swimmer was apparently OK and resumed swimming towards shore.

The operators of the IRBs and jet skis would have needed to keep a very good lookout as swimmers, and lifesavers on rescue boards in a trough, could be completely concealed until the moment the jet ski or IRB crested a wave.

The light wind on the day (mostly less than 10 knots) prevented the conditions being unpleasant. Had there been say a 20-25 knot wind blowing straight into the bay, these waves would have presented a more challenging obstacle on the swim out. The swim was more comfortable than the impression some of these images might convey.

The number of rescue personnel and craft around the course is evident in this photo. That’s a reasonable sized wave breaking out the back.

It was a wise move not to have the seaward turn buoys any further outside the bay.

Left: My 1200m track according to my Garmin watch.

Right: Also swimming was Robbie, who I have known for over 60 years. Robbie swims regularly with a group of women at Point Lonsdale. This was her first Port Campbell ocean swim race. She is an experienced ocean swimmer and enjoyed the event.

This was a very well organised and exhilarating swim.

Well done Port Campbell SLSC.