Queensland teens win again at Pier to Pub

QUEENSLAND teenagers Lani Pallister and Hayden Cotter have gone back to back in claiming the 39th edition of the Lorne Pier to Pub on Saturday.

Cotter was first over the line in 11 minutes and 44 seconds in the Open “Superfish” category, beating seven-time winner Sam Sheppard by five seconds and third-placed Matt Gilling (12:12).

“Yeah, it’s pretty good – I knew last year was really good, so to come back this year and do it again is even better,” Cotter said.

“I felt like it was pretty fast from the start, and then I got a little break from the pack, and came home hard.”

Sheppard said Cotter was “just a little bit too good”.

“He got me in probably the last couple of hundred metres… but he’s an open water swimmer on the rise.

“It was a good, clean race. Both of us got away pretty cleanly; not many arms thrown.”

Pallister, after a slightly muddled start, powered ahead to swim home in 12:20, more than a minute ahead of Zoe Whitfield in 13:36 and Alex Brown in 13:38.

“I have that buzz again from last year; I’m really, really happy with how I went,” Pallister said.

“It felt like a really hard swim (today), but I’m going to take it as it comes in regards to training and prep work, I think it’ll be a good little event that I can keep doing and pushing myself harder and harder.”

Cotter and Pallister were also both the first swimmers home in their respective Junior categories.

Earlier on Saturday, Sheppard claimed the second edition of the Lorne 5000, a five-kilometre swim across Louttit Bay.

A 65-year-old male competitor died while taking part in his 20th Pier to Pub swim.

The man – identified in news reports as Murray Howard from Beeac – reportedly suffered a heart attack, and was pulled from the water by lifesavers at about 2.45pm.

He was rushed to shore, where he was treated by paramedics but was unable to be revived.

The Lorne SLSC released a statement saying it was saddened to hear of Mr Howard’s passing, and the club’s thoughts were with his family and friends.

Of the other notable swimmers, former Cats premiership skipper Cameron Ling swam 22:23, federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg swam 25:19, youngest swimmer Emily Lawson swam 20:18 the day after turning 12, oldest competitor 88-year old Dorothy Dickey swam 24:04 and Blues player Charlie Curnow swam 16:53.