Albany’s Christine Murray finishes top 10 in Rotto Swim, Albany young guns shine in first duo crossing

Albany’s Christine Murray produced a remarkable first solo effort in the Rottnest Channel Swim, finishing last month’s race inside the top 20. This year’s event attracted nearly 1000 entrants, with 375 doing the February 25 swim solo. Having previously taken part in the race in a team and in a duo, Murray tackled it alone this year. The ambitious 22-year-old trained hard with one simple goal in mind — to reach the finish line. Murray not only completed the race but she swam the 19.7km in very good time. She finished in 16th place overall and was the seventh female swimmer home in a time of 4hr.37min. 05.57sec. “The main aim was just to get through it really and I wanted to go under 5½ hours,” Murray said. “In the water I realised I was tracking pretty well, and to go under five hours I was stoked. “The people in front of me obviously train a lot more and a lot more intensely… I’m pretty proud of myself for getting into the top 10 females.” Murray said one of the challenges was ensuring she had enough nutrition during the swim. “I copped a few stingers in the first few kilometres,” she said. “Just getting used to the race itself was hard. I’ve only ever swum 10km open water before so just making sure I stayed hydrated and had enough feed. “I reckon I’ll have another crack next year and aim for top 10 female again.” Murray, previously a member of the Albany Surf Life Saving Club and Albany Swim Club, now lives in Perth and is studying at university, training with the Scarborough Beach Swim Club more for the social benefit and to keep fit. “I don’t train to be the best but it allows me to compete in open-water events,” Murray said. “Coming from a competitive background, once you are in the water you are out there to do your best, so I do enjoy it.” Meanwhile, Albany teenagers Ned Shepherd and Coco Smargiassi had a brilliant swim in the race’s duo category. Ned, 15, and Coco, 16, are members of the ASLSC and ASC, and have been swimming together since they were nine. It was their first Rottnest Channel Swim crossing and they are keen to race again next year after the strong result. They formed the duo Noodles & Beans and finished third in their 28+ mixed-age category and fourth in the mixed-gender category after recording a slick time of 5:08:14.84. The pair swam strongly throughout, chasing down teams in front of them — several of whom had elite swimmers. The Albany team of Rob Mason, Peter Grey, Matt Wells and Richard Langston, called Albany FY23 completed the race in 6:18.45.63 to be 13th in their category and the 157th team across the line. The Southern Wrongs, made up of Albany trio Dean Thornton, Mark Weller, Simon Smith, and Perth’s Thomas Smith, competed in the charity challenge and recorded a time of 6:05.13.42 to be 13th overall.