Record-setting "Strokes in the Right Direction" were swum Saturday as 172 swimmers covered 3,862 meter lengths, or 92 miles, at the 14th annual St. Thomas Swimming Association Snapple Swim-O-Thon at Magens Bay. The competition was ratcheted up a notch or two with the late addition to the biathlon of athletes visiting St. Thomas from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn.
The Wesleyan athletes performed superbly, placing three in the top 10, including biathlon winner Bryan Bissell.
"It was a wonderful event," said STSA Executive Director Kathy Huttel. "We had a great turnout; it gets bigger and better every year."
"The day was so beautiful," Huttel said, "The water was almost glassy — it was perfect. About 10 days ago, we had 14 foot waves here and the beach was closed."
Louise Depuy of St. John set the women's individual record, 80 lengths in an hour, followed by Lauren Huttel, 68 lengths, and Carlene Gregory, 58 lengths.
Top male finishers were Pete Farmer and Christopher Dunlap at 60 lengths each, and Dave Waller at 58 lengths.
Seven teams participated in the event. See team scores below.
A new event was added this year as STSA partnered with the St. Thomas Roadrunners Association in a biathlon starting at 7 a.m. which featured a half-mile swim and a three-mile run to benefit the STSA.
Huttel got up about 4 a.m. Saturday to help biathlon director Therese Hodge set up for the 7 a.m. run and to welcome a surprise last entry, a group of runners with the Wesleyan University track team from Middletown, Conn., who were visiting the University of the Virgin Islands.
"We were all meeting at my house Thursday night," Huttel said, "when about 11 p.m. as we were breaking up, I got this call from the Wesleyan coach. I was rather startled." He wanted to know if they could participate, Huttel said, "and sure enough they all piled out of a van at the beach about 6 a.m., about 15 of them." For biathlon results, see below.
It's too early to determine exactly how much money was raised, Huttel said, but she estimates between $18,000 and $20,000. Each participant gets pledges from individual or corporate sponsors based on the number of lengths they swim in an hour. It may take about a month before the final tallies are in as the pledges are collected.
Huttel was especially impressed with the Ulla Muller school "Mullets." "These are sixth graders," Huttel said, "and they handed me a bag with $881 mostly in coins and one dollar bills that they had collected."
Friends of well-known island personality Pat Bailey, who was celebrating his 50th birthday Saturday and Sunday on the beach, joined in the festivities. Led by Barbara O'Brien, a group of the celebrants became swimmers. "We don't know yet," said Huttel, "but they may have raised a 'Gold Tile' sponsorship, $600." They were among the 49 individual swimmers.
The tile sponsorships are a fund-raising project for the STSA's Community Aquatic Center in Estate Nazareth, which is what the Swim-0-Thon is for. Phase two of the project is now under construction: walls, side decking, utility room foundation, and further infrastructure. STSA, a not-for-profit association, has provided swimming programs competitive swimming and aquatic certification to more than 9,000 residents of St. Thomas and St. John.
The team finishers were:
Chase Bank: 6 swimmers; 74 lengths; average 12 per person;
WVWI Knight Quality Stations: 6 swimmers; 186 lengths; average 31 per person;
Ivanna Eudora Kean "Devil Rays": 34 swimmers; 916 lengths; average 27 per person;
Lockhart Swimmers: 23 swimmers; 590 lengths; average 25 per person ;
Montessori School: 15 swimmers; 332 lengths average 22 per person;
CAHS Honor Society: 8 swimmers; 146 lengths; average 18 per person;
Ulla Muller "Mullets": 25 swimmers; 262 lengths; average 11 per person;
STSA Stingrays: 6 swimmers; 254 lengths; average 42 per person.
The first person out of the water in the biathlon was Louise Depuy of St. John who swam the distance in 9:27. She later swam 80 lengths of 50 meters in one hour to break the Swim-O-Thon record of 68 lengths.
David Pritchett followed Depuy out of the water in 10:07. Bryan Bissell of Wesleyan opted to participate in the dual race. He also excelled at swimming and followed Pritchett out of the water in a time of 10:11.
Bissell then ran the three-mile distance out of Magens and up the hill into Peterborg and back, placing first in the whole event. He ran the course in 19:00.
Pritchett followed close behind him and came in at 19:52.
Depuy, a strong runner, was the first woman across the finish line in a time of 22:58. Jude Woodcock, also of St. John, was the second woman to finish. Her swim time was 10:52 and run time was 24:31.
BIATHLON
MALE DIVISION
1. Bryan Bissell, Age 19….29:11
2. David Pritchett, 26….29:59
3. Mike Fox-Boyd, 21….30:02
4. Andy Mohr, 30….33:04
5. Adam Thill, 35….33:44
6. Jon Kraus, 18….35:12
7. Michael Berne, 19….38:36
8. Kevin Lenahan, 48….39:09
9. Gerald Wentworth, 53….39:19
10. Vincen Nunez, 34….40:13
11. Chris Haigh, 42….41:47
12. Frank Jackson, 49….45:22
13. Robert Golub, 38….46:43
FEMALE DIVISION
1. Louise Depuy, Age 32….34:25
2. Jude Woodcock, 44….35:23
3. Charlotte Morris, 39….38:34
4. Kate McNamara, 19….38:41
5. Kristin Kyrka, 18….38:49
6. Grace Tuma, 40….38:56
7. Meghan Kelly, 19….40:23
8. Liza Harrison, 19….40:26
9. Janelle Zachman, 33….40:41
10. Tara Tracy, 20….40:51
11. Jean Baudreau, 20….43:31
12. Morgan Philbin, 18….44:22
13. Jennifer Brown, 18….44:30
14. Arli Christian, 18….45:30
15. Bernadette Kreisel, 34….45:32
16. Jane Rollins, 36….45:52
17. Susan Helton, 37….45:52
18. Annie Greaux, 29….48:55
19. Karen Rice, 42….51:09
20. Vivianne Johnson, 32….54:25
21. Caroll Rourke, 41….1:06
TEAM
1.Sonia Vesely, John Crooke…. 34:35
2.Willy Wilson, Jennie Wentworth….40:22.
