Channel Challenge to honour Gordon
THE late Age journalist Michael Gordon will be honoured at this year’s San Remo Channel Challenge.
A new trophy will be struck and awarded each year in Mr Gordon’s name.
It will be presented to the winner of the senior open male category of the annual San Remo Channel Challenge – a swim/run event that sees hundreds of competitors swim 550m from San Remo to Phillip Island, and then run two kilometres back to San Remo over the bridge.
The 2019 event will be held this Saturday, February 9 at 4.15pm at San Remo by the Woolamai Beach Surf Life Saving Club.
Mr Gordon died after suffering a heart attack in the 2018 Phillip Island Swim Classic at Cowes last February.
He was the inaugural winner of the first Channel Challenge in 1986 and will always have a special status within the history of Victoria’s largest aquathon.
He loved the ocean and was a regular surfer at Phillip Island, as well as being a regular competitor in the events conducted each summer by the Woolamai Beach Surf Life Saving Club.
His son Scott stated the San Remo Channel Challenge had always been his father’s favourite event.
A large contingent of Mr Gordon senior’s family and friends will be at San Remo to participate in the 2019 event.
Event organiser Ron Nicholson, from the Woolamai Beach Surf Life Saving Club, was fond of catching up with Mr Gordon for a cold beer and chat after each event.
It will be interesting to see who can take the initial trophy, as the competitors will include eight members of the US National Triathlon Squad, Team USA, in Victoria for a summer training camp.
They are being coached by former Victorian, Jarrod Evans, who will be explaining the significance of this memorial trophy to his charges.
The challenge is scheduled to avoid the normally fierce tide rushing through the channel.
When the tide turns around, there is a 20 minute window during which the waters of the Westernport Channel are still and once a year competitors are sent across in three waves and given 20 minutes to get across from San Remo to Newhaven under the auspices of the water safety crew from the Woolamai Beach Surf Life Saving Club.
They then don their runners in the transition area before heading back across the iconic San Remo bridge and through the town for a two kilometre run, finishing in front of the San Remo Hotel.
For the first time in the history of this event, there will be a relay category to enable competitors to participate as individuals or as members of a relay team.
All friends and fans of Michael Gordon are welcome to join in this celebration of his memory at San Remo and can go to www.basscoastseries.com.au for more details.
Save time and money by entering online by 6pm Friday.
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Posted by Tayla Kershaw on Feb 5 2019. Filed under Sport. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
