NEVIS CYCLE & TRIATHLON CLUB

 A beautiful morning greeted the swimmers as they gathered on the beach at Oualie for the 8^th annual Bente Weber Memorial channel swim took place on Sunday 28^th, with a record number of participants taking part, 98 swimmers registered with 96 finishers, the youngest of whom was only 9 yrs old, Daryl Appleton of Antigua. As the swimmers received their last instructions, the coast guard, private boats and many kayakers were all on hand to ensure a safe experience for the not so experienced and first time competitors. The athletes were from Antigua, St Kitts & Nevis, UK, USA, Guernsey, Zimbabwe, Newfoundland, France, Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago, Dutch SXM, US Virgin Islands and Italy, with a huge contingent from the Ross Vet School in St Kitts.

 It was to be a day of records it seemed, record numbers, record of youngest entrant, and the women were dominant in the event with a record 57 women attending, one of whom, Paula Price of Nevis logging her 7^th crossing of the 8 years of the event. In the final outcome the 5yr old record held by the then 16 yr old Quincy De Feber of St Martin of 1:07:53 was broken, Rhian Purdy of the MUA here on Nevis posted a new best time of 1:05:21 beating out top male contender Roger Brown by 17 seconds to take the title. In fact 3 of the top finishers broke the old record, Marlise Davidson (Ross) finished 3^rd overall and 2^nd female in 1:06:07.

The event was sponsored by Oceans Edge St Kitts and the Wheel World Cycle Shop, Oceans Edge representative Damian Hamp-Adams also raced the swim coming in 19^th overall in 1:21:22, and handed out the trophies at the finish at Spice Mill restaurant in Cockleshell Bay. The event coordinators wish to thank the registration and timng crew for handling the rush so well, the kayakers, Reggie, James and the SKN Coast Guard for keeping everyone safe, Scuba Safaris and Budget Marine (SXM).