Capital Classic, Sunday January 27, 2018

It was a pretty brilliant day for 28 Nelson swimmers in Wellington, as they took second and fourth overall and dominated the medals in the older age groups.

It wasn’t an easy swim, with the course shortened to 2.5km thanks to Wellington’s wild winds.

Last year’s overall winner Luke Kelly took second place, narrowly beaten by veteran Brent Foster, while Hayden Squance was just outside of the overall medals, finishing fourth on his 21st birthday.

The Nelson pair took gold and silver in the M20-24 division, while Sierra Thomas survived a course glitch to take the silver medal in F15-19.

In the older age groups, Derek Eaton and Ralph Hetzel took gold and silver respectively in M75-79, while Stu Hebberd won M70-74.

Odette Llewellin was delighted to take bronze in F65-69 in her first swim out of Nelson, while Ben Van Dyke cleaned up, taking the gold in M65-69.

Janis Crampton took gold and Maggy Johnston bronze in F60-64.

In 55-59, both Hamish Neill and Christina Harris took gold, while Jude Vincent gained a bronze.

Terry Bone was the 13th finisher overall on his way to gold in M45-49.

We skipped a few age groups in the younger divisions, although Flossie Van Dyke scored a bronze in F25-29.

A decent bunch of fourth and fifth places ensured everyone went home pretty happy.

For the full Nelson results, click here.

For the total package of results, click here

Photos by Niamh Berry-Kilgour and Peter Gibbs, click here

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