Event five of the NZ Ocean Swim Series, the brand new freshwater ocean swim – Legend of the Lake took place at Blue Lake, Rotorua on Sunday 28 February. Over 1100 swimmers took the plunge, numbers far exceeding expectations for the first event in the city.
The weather gods were certainly on our side, blessing us with an amazing hot sunny day with no sign of the forecasted thunderstorms. Our swimmers loved the new location and we were all in awe of the beautiful surroundings of the Blue Lake.
The men’s 3.5km event was won narrowly by Rotorua local and Olympic Hopeful Kane Radford edging out Phillip Ryan of Auckland, while the women’s event was won by Dunedin’s Stefannie Gillespie, who just managed to pip New Zealand Open Water Champion, and previous Series’ winner Charlotte Webby at the post.
iHeartRadio and Coast FM were again proud sponsors of the day, onsite with goodie bags!
