Strong numbers despite the weather

Dash and Splash fans who may have been disappointed by the cancellation of January’s scheduled event took advantage of the break from recent stormy weather to compete in last week’s much-anticipated competition.

The event drew strong representation from across the Broome community including representatives from footy clubs enjoying a bit of pre-season training, police officers, tri-club juniors and family-orientated groups including father-and-son participants.

BRAC program development officer Sally Reynolds said she was delighted with the “great turnout” considering recent bad weather and other events scheduled around it, including the Virtual Rottnest Swim, held the next day.

“It was really great to see such great numbers turn up,” she said.

This time Mother Nature played fairly, as everyone successfully completed the event just before it started to rain.

Andrew Blackley gave a lightning performance after coming first in the short course with a time of 17:26. Heather Osborne dominated the female shortcourse competition with a time of 20:13, fending off tough competition.

In the junior competition, Tim Wood led the way with an impressive time of 20:06.

King of the long-course competition, Lloyd Reidy, retained his top spot since the December event with a time of 27:10, despite competition from previous winner Oskar Booth.

Lise Doyle, who made a special trip from One Arm Point, claimed victory in the longcourse event with a time of 37:47.