Favourable conditions for this year’s Wreck2Reef

CALM conditions greeted competitors at this year’s Wreck2Reef Open Water Swim as they plunged into the water at Half Moon Bay on Saturday.

Organised annually by the Indented Head Yacht Club, about 400 participants from across Victoria, New South Wales and the Northern Territory took part in the event.

The turnout matched last year’s record, with race director Andrew Dix saying favourable conditions, which included light southerly winds and calm waters, led to a surge in registrations leading up to the event.

“We experienced a lot of registrations in the last two to three days before the event.

“We had a beautiful day once the weather forecast settled in.”

Competitors had the choice of completing the 2.5km swim, 300m dash, 800m novice, 1.2km swim or the 600m Salty Bitches Social Swim.

Matt Smith took out the 2.5km swim in a time of 31.45 and the 1.2km event in 15.53, Hoi Wan Henry Lo was first in the 300m dash, Charles Wild won the 800m novice event in 13.05, and Addie Currie was first in the 600m Salty Bitches Social Swim.

As part of this year’s event, team Shipsides from Barwon Heads competed with four generations of men taking part in three different distances, including 80-year-old John, who swam the 1.2km event in 33.32 minutes alongside his son.

Funds raised form the event will go towards supporting the yacht club’s junior Learn 2 Sail program.

Mr Dix thanked the volunteers, sponsors and participants who made the Wreck2Reef Open Water Swim a success.

The event will next be held on February 14, 2026.

For the full list of results from this year’s Wreck2Reef, head to tomatotiming.racetecresults.com