Busselton Jetty Swim winners in ‘some’ categories changed due to timing system issue

The organisers of the Busselton Jetty Swim say the winners of “some” of the event’s categories have been changed as the result of an issue with the event’s timing system.

Volunteers reviewed video footage of the event’s finish line to confirm times for some swimmers due to what the organisers called a “technical issue with the timing mat”, which had previously been described as a cable leading into the timing machine becoming unplugged.

Posting on Facebook, the organisers said 360 swimmers had been affected. More than 4450 athletes took part in the 29th annual event in total.

“We will be in touch with the affected swimmers and will be re-issuing awards,” the post reads. “We sincerely apologise to those who were not recognised on the day.

“The volunteer organising committee is incredibly grateful for the patience, understanding and support we’ve received over the past week.

“This unprecedented situation has provided valuable learnings which we will use to refine our processes for future events.”

The overall winners of the senior categories have not changed, with Australind’s Kyle Lee (38min6.0sec) and Rosie Wilson (43:46.8) still listed as the male and female winners of the 3.6km solo swim.

Twenty-eight swimmers have still not had their times confirmed due to their race number tattoos being obscured in the video footage, but the organisers said they had been contacted and were hopeful of establishing their times.