ST. CROIX,
UNITED STATES VIRGIN ISLANDS (October
27, 2002) – On Sunday, October 27, 2002, a new course record was set by Alex
Kostich, age 31, from Los Angeles, California. Kostich, winning the race for the fourth year in a row, finished
the 5-mile race amid high winds and heavy waves, for a new course record of 1
hour, 36 minutes, and 12 seconds.
The 7th
Annual St. Croix Coral Reef Swim took place from Buck Island Reef National
Monument to The Buccaneer resort’s Mermaid Beach with 152 swimmers participating,
including 123 Solo swimmers, 17 Fin Swimmers, and 12 Relay Swimmers.
Second
overall solo swimmer was James Barber, age 42, from Zionsville, IN, with a
time of 1 hour, 38 minutes, and 40 seconds.
Third overall solo was Morgan
Locke, age 16, from St. Croix with a time of 1 hour, 40 minutes, and 42
seconds, beating his 2001 course time by more than 7 minutes. Alan Bell, age 52 from Redmond, Washington,
was 4th with a time of 1 hour, 42 minutes, and 28 seconds, and
another St. Croix swimmer, Kevin Hensley, age 17, finished 5th
overall with a time of 1 hour, 44 minutes, and 45 seconds.
The top
woman finishing the race was Melissa Marchinkowski, age 28, of Atlanta,
Georgia, who placed 8th overall with a time of 1 hour, 47 minutes,
and 11 seconds. The second woman was Betty Mills, age
38, from Atlanta, GA, with a time of 1 hour, 48 minutes, and 37 seconds. Third woman solo finisher was Laureen
Welting of San Francisco, CA, age 36, with a time of 1 hour, 49 minutes,
and 20 seconds.
The top
Junior category male solo swimmer was Morgan Locke, followed by Kevin
Hensley (times noted above) and in third place, Ryan Nelthropp of St.
Croix, Age 13. Nelthrop finished the
race in 1 hour, 53 minutes, and 37 seconds.
Top Junior
category Female Solo Swimmers were Gabriela Fiebel, age 14 of West
Windsor, New Jersey, with a time of 1 hour, 54 minutes, and 51 seconds; and Mercedes
Cover, age 18, of St. John, VI, with a time of 2 hours, 36 minutes, and 17
seconds.
The
youngest swimmer in the race was Branden Whitehurst, age 12, of St.
Croix, who finished 37th overall, with a time of 2 hours, 3 minutes,
and 44 seconds. The oldest swimmer was
former Olympian Graham Johnston of Houston, Texas, age 71, who was 46th,
completing the course with a time of 2 hours, 9 minutes, and 42 seconds.
Swimmers
from the United States, Japan, and Canada competed again this year, and 22
competed from the United States Virgin Islands. The unique event began once again this year at 7 a.m. with the
blowing of a conch shell, signaling the participants to begin swimming the
5-mile open water course from Buck Island.
In
addition to the swimmers, more than 60 kayakers, 10 boat captains, emergency
medical technicians, and dozens of other volunteers donated their time and
services for a safe operation again this year.
St. Croix race organizers are Elizabeth A. Armstrong, General Manager of
host hotel “The Buccaneer”; timer Wallace Williams, kayak organizer Andy
Wartenberg of Caribbean Adventure Tours; and boat captain organizer Ed Staats.
Sponsors
of the event are American Airlines, The Victor Swimwear, The Buccaneer, Mile
Mark Water Sports, the Caribbean Bracelet Company, Aqua Moon Adventures,
Hovensa, Bellows International, Coca Cola, Cruzan Rum, the St. Croix Yacht
Club, the V.I. Family Sports and Fitness Center, Caribbean Adventure Tours,
Endurance Sports, and SCUBA. This year,
Radio Stations Mongoose 104.9 & 104.3 FM, Isle 95, and SUNNY 99.5 FM also
were sponsors. Finishers were
interviewed by national radio personality, Roger W. Morgan.
Next
year’s swim is scheduled for Sunday, October 26, 2003. For more information on this and other races
organized by Randy Nutt, log on to www.randynutt.com.