Sunny, autumn weather made the PAYCE Cronulla Shark Island Swim and the shorter PAYCE Cronulla Beach Fun Swim on Sunday a memorable 2015 event which attracted 783 entrants — the biggest field in four years.
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Sutherland deputy mayor Carmelo Pesce flagged away competitors in the PAYCE Cronulla Shark Island event in two waves with the fastest group leading the charge down the beach.
Former Olympian Jane Flemming and PAYCE representative Chris Ryan joined forces to get the Fun Swim under way an hour earlier.
Jesse Goodyear and Taylar Puskaric were first back to the beach in their respective men’s and women’s divisions in the 2.3 kilometre PAYCE Cronulla Shark Island Swim, repeating their winning performances from last year.
Jesse Goodyear, who became the event’s youngest winner last year at 15, beat home a field of 465 finishers and improved on last year’s time by nearly one minute, finishing the swim in 27:54 minutes.
Second outright was Jay Turness with a time of 28:07 followed closely by third place-getter Alex Clarke in 28:12 minutes.
Taylar Puskaric finished seventh outright with a time of 29:41 minutes, leading home a field of 155 women. Second to finish in the women’s division was Emily Lavender, in 31:02 minutes.
Lachlan Vitnell won the one-kilometre PAYCE Cronulla Beach Fun Swim, with Samantha Kennedy the first woman to cross the line in fifth place outright.
Paralympian Paul Croft, who swam with one arm, showed his determination to finish the annual event.
Croft swims at Sans Souci Leisure Centre and is coached by Olympian Craig Stevens.
Despite three knee reconstructions and a serious bike accident in recent years, Croft, 64, completed the 2.3 kilometre swim in 67:07 minutes to improve on last year’s time by nearly 10 minutes.