Tattersalls Masters Australia No Ka 'Oi in Maui

The Tattersalls Masters Australia won the 9.5-mile Maui Channel Swim, a 6-person race between Lanai and Maui, yesterday in 3 hours 8 minutes over the RCP Tiburon Milers in another match between the rivals from either side of the Pacific Ocean.

The Tattersalls Masters Australia team consisted of Peter Thiel, former world 25K champion Brendan Capell, 2009 world 25K silver medalist Trent Grimsey, Ryan Napolean, Olympic 10K swimmer Ky Hurst and David Browne. RCP Tiburon Milers finished in 3:12:12 with Team Living Water third in 5:14:54.

On the women's side, RCP Tiburon Milers Wahines proved the creme of the feminine crop. A strong line-up of six very accomplished pool and open water swimming women won in 3:53:34.

The team included Lauren Costella, Luane Rowe, Kathryn Taylor, Dana Vollmer, Emma Berry and Amanda McTeagues.

After enjoying the tropical waters of Hawaii, many of these swimmers - including both the fastest male and female swimmers on the Tattersalls Masters Australia and the on the RCP Tiburon Milers - are now headed over to the significantly cooler waters of San Francisco Bay for the 10th annual RCP Tiburon Mile.

Todd Robinson, the new record holder in the Catalina Channel, was first solo finisher in the race, beating 46 of the 50 relay teams in a time of 3:54.

51 relays and 20 soloists started the race, but not all finished due to the challenging conditions. 2 soloists took nearly 10 hours to complete the course.

According to experienced waterman Bill Ireland who has hundreds of swims under his belt, "The conditions for the first 30-40 minutes were as bad as anyone could remember having seen at Maui or at any ocean race as heavy chop, swell and winds challenged the lead swimmers."

But the water was blue, blue, blue as can be seen in this video here.

Photos of David Browne and the victorious Tattersalls Masters Australia team by Amanda Cowen