On Saturday, February 24, the Rottnest Channel Swim was abandoned for the second time in 34 years due to extreme weather and safety concerns. The decision to call off the race came around four hours after the first wave of participants began.

The decision was made by the Rottnest Channel Swim Association after receiving advice from the Bureau of Meteorology, Surf Life Saving WA and Marine Rescue Fremantle.

“The association made the difficult decision to cancel the event in order to protect the safety of its participants,” said a Rottnest Channel Swim Association spokesperson.

Conditions worsened after the first hour as swimmers and their support groups experienced 20-25km/h winds during the race and swells between one and two meters.

This is one of WA’s iconic events which brings in crowds worldwide. This year over 2600 people were registered to race the 19.7km open-water swim from Cottesloe Beach to Rottnest Island. 

Each year the swim is completed as a team, duo, or soloist. All participants are required to have a support boat and a kayaker.

This year the Curtin Team was comprised of Curtin staff, students, and graduates. There were four swimmers: Cassy Newman, James Pirie, Tahlia Bonomini, and Fergus McFarlane, and two kayakers: Karel Cronje and Pieter Coetzee. 

Curtin started racing at 7:30am in the twelfth wave. The first swimmer started off the beach and was then identified by the kayaker before the two then found the support boat and completed the first change-over between swimmers.

“I’m a little bit nervous for the first change-over, and getting in the water because it’s a little bit chilly but I’m excited for when we get into the swing of things and have a bit of consistency,” said Cassy Newman a Curtin staff member. 

Once the swimmers and kayakers had left Cottesloe Beach it was easy for the skipper to spot the pair, with Karel’s bright pink cowboy hat. The first changeover was smooth and the swimmers continued swapping over every six minutes. 

“I’m quite nervous to keep up with the swimmers but we will see how we go,” said Pieter Coetzee, a second-year UWA student. 

Two minutes after the kayakers completed their first change-over, Pieter was run over by a boat and knocked out of the kayak, luckily he emerged unscathed and was able to get back to paddling.

Around 10am the announcement came that all swimmers not at the 14km mark were to abandon the race due to weather and safety concerns. 

At this point, the Curtin team was at the 10km mark and had to get out of the water.

Shortly after this announcement, there were Mayday and pan-pan calls put out over the radio after a swimmer was brought back to the boat barely breathing. 

The entire race was abandoned not long after. 

“This is the second time in its 34-year history that the Rottnest Channel Swim has been cancelled due to poor weather conditions, with the other instance occurring in 2007,” said the Rottnest Channel Swim Association spokesperson.

Following the abandonment call the radio was flooded with skippers informing race control of their movements and the state of their team; some support boats temporarily lost contact with their kayakers and swimmers. 

(“Race-control, race-control this is 69 paddlers are on board going to Rottnest.”)

Around noon the Curtin team was dropped to Rotto for a well-deserved celebration.

While they may not have completed the race itself, the Curtin team were part of a historic call-off and competed in some of the worst weather conditions the race has ever seen.