On Sunday 12 February thousands of brave swimmers will plunge into the ocean and race 3.6 kilometres around the Busselton Jetty.
The Busselton Jetty Swim started life in 1996, when two couples decided it would be a cool idea to swim around the jetty. Word spread, and 82 other swimmers joined in. The local hardware store even donated a hammer as first prize.
This year more than 4,400 competitors will participate!
Event and sponsorship coordinator Clare Anderson told us more.
“The event was the brainchild of Max Higgins and was initially arranged as an event of the Busselton Triathlon Club,” she said. “Max, his wife Jenny and their friends Richard and Leanne Ford, were on the Executive Committee from 1996 until just after the 2020 swim, which was also the event’s 25th anniversary.”
The popularity of the event has continued to grow. In 2021 the Busselton Jetty Swim became so popular that organisers had to change the entry system to a ballot after 24,000 devices tried to access the website at once when entries opened, crashing the site the previous year.