Tattersalls claims 13th Maui Channel Swim title in a row | News, Sports, Jobs

Tattersalls Masters Australia poses with a banner after winning the Maui Channel Swim on Saturday in Kaanapali. The Maui News / DAKOTA GROSSMAN photo

KAANAPALI — Fighting against West Maui’s strong ocean currents wasn’t the only obstacle for the Tattersalls Masters Australia swim team.

The six-swimmer crew was also thrown together last second with mostly new members, but that didn’t stop them from claiming their 13th consecutive open division title at the Maui Channel Swim on Saturday.

“It was fantastic,” team captain Peter Thiel said at the finish line in front of the Kaanapali Beach Hotel. “We struggled to get a team together this year because we normally have some sort of sponsorship, but we funded it ourselves this year and managed to pull together a team and make it work.”

The team’s one other returner, Wesley Roberts, swam the final leg of the relay and stopped the clock at 3 hours, 19 minutes, 48 seconds. The race began at Club Lanai, about 9.9 miles from the Kaanapali finish.

“Without knowing what the current was, we were hoping for around 3:10:00,” Thiel said. “We were the furthest south, so we had a straight line and the current was pushing five to six knots north, so we kept on the line but we were swimming upstream all the way.”

Phoebe Hines, a senior freestylist at the University of Hawaii, was the team’s first-ever female member. Saturday’s race was also her first channel swim.

“It was awesome, I loved it,” Hines said. “It was kind of a last-minute call-up but I’m very glad I did it. I’m very honored to be on this team.”

As the sun reached high noon, currents flowing toward the north picked up speed, pushing swimmers farther down the coast.

Officials notified boat navigators that finishers would have the option to end the relay on the other side of Black Rock at Kahekili Beach before boating back to the finish line on Kaanapali Beach. However, most swimmers were able to finish at the main location.

Maui Jim was the second team overall and first in the Makule division, finishing around 40 minutes after Tattersalls at 4:05:05.

Cheers Beaches was the first women’s team to hit the beach with a time of 4:25:09, which also put them sixth overall.

“The current was definitely stronger this year,” said Stephanie Horner, whose team also included Olympic swimmer Rebecca Mann. “It was fun, I mean, you have to take on the challenges and whatever is thrown at you, you just deal with it and (have) fun, and I think we had a good approach and had a good time together.”

* Dakota Grossman is at dgrossman@mauinews.com

Maui Channel Swim

Saturday’s Results

9.9 miles from Club Lanai to

Kaanapali Beach Hotel

1. Tattersalls Masters Australia 3:19:48, 2. Team Bill Haywood – Maui Jim 4:05:05, 3. Maximum Damage 4:14:11, 4. Aussie Ticker – Sydney 4:15:28, 5. Kapakahi Mano 4:15:45, 6. Cheers Beaches 4:25:09, 7. Aquaholics 17 4:27:07, 8. Socal/Hi 2.0 4:36:08, 9. We’re Back 4:45:47, 10. Back To Maui 4:47:50, 11. Club Greenwood 4:48:39, 12. Training On Spam Musubi 4:48:41, 13. Philadelphia Fins 4:49:18, 14. Brent Blackman 4:50:19, 15. Olympic Club Extreme Makules 4:50:30, 16. Jake Glick 4:51:07, 17. Dam 4:56:23, 18. True Blues 5:02:41, 19. Swim 2019 Grand Makule 5:03:44, 20. Heath Meldrum 5:06:52, 21. Pan Pac Oceanauts 5:08:10, 22. In It To Win It Last Minute 5:09:47, 23. Swim 2019 Shark Girls 5:10:22, 24. Maui Aloha 5:10:51, 25. Rocky Mountain Rocket Fish 5:12:19, 26. Sociales 2019 5:13:17, 27. Aussie Oceanauts 5:13:20, 28. Cara Marie Manlandro 5:13:59, 29. Och Tamale 5:14:22, 30. S.F.Dolphin Club – Old Dad’s Young Sons 5:15:59, 31. Tuff Swimming Team 5:16:13, 32. Okole Maluna 5:17:02, 33. Grumpy Old Badgers Silver Bullets 5:20:35, 34. Roper Towers 5:21:40, 35. Aussie Ticker – Melbourne 5:23:32, 36. Keawakapu Kropps 5:29:48, 37. Roper’s Rebels 5:44:17, 38. No-Bro Salty Shakers 5:44:40, 39. Aquaman John 5:56:11, 40. Balmoral Grand Makule 6:01:27.

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