A blowy Friday night looked ominous with a cancellation on the cards, but by dawn Saturday morning, under a full moon, calmer conditions had descended at Leighton Beach for the start of the Port to Pub swim.
1600 competitors for the 10th anniversary of the swim, which has steadily edged towards the same iconic status of its older sibling up the coast at Cottesloe but with a bit more whimsy. Like the Rotto swim with the brim of its hat turned up.
69 swimmers went solo for the 19.7km trip across but a big nod to the 74 ultra-marathoners who topped up with the masochistic 5km starter loop up to Swanbourne and back, before heading out to Rotto. A mere 25km all up. The rest went as duos, fours and sixes. First in the water at 6am, all on their way by 7am and the beach cleared.
Some serious squads lined up, like Subiaco Sports Massage with five Olympians, including Eamonn Sullivan and Travis Nederpelt.
Controversy too in the lead up with the annual square off between former players from the Fremantle Dockers and the West Coast Eagles tainted by a late substitution scandal.
The West Coast Owls team with Drew Banfield, Mitchell White and Will Schofield named in the starting six had a late withdrawal they attempted to fill with former Eagles executive Deane Pieters, a solo winner of the Rotto swim.
The late sub was initially accepted by race organisers but the decision later reversed following loud (and fully justified) complaints from the Freo Dockers Old Salts team led by Shaun McManus and Jason Norrish.
No dust ups at the start on the beach at Leighton where love and deep respect were in the air for one of the great events on the North Fremantle calendar.
Abundant evidence too that open water swimming is a team sport, with hundreds of paddlers pushing off the beach to chaperone their charges out towards the flotilla of accompanying boats a small distance offshore and then across to Rotto.
On the beach, fingers crossed among supporting families that the prevailing southerly would not veer west, or at least not too early.
First teams were due to hit Thomson Bay by mid-morning, tales tall and true to follow with re-hydration at the pub.
* Words and photographs by John McGlue Our Man at Leighton
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