Perth powerhouse Max Coten handles big swell to win Denmark’s Southern Ocean Classic Mile title

Impressive Perth swimmer Max Coten wrapped up a fantastic weekend with victory in the Southern Ocean Classic Mile in Denmark on Sunday morning.

Coten finished with the best time in the Albany Harbour Swim the previous day and then displayed more first-rate swimming to claim the overall title in the open water swim at Ocean Beach.

Rebekah Weller also finished first in the female category in the ocean swim, fresh off a terrific performance in the Albany Harbour Swim on Saturday.

Rough conditions and a longer distance made it difficult for Coten and other swimmers to improve on their 2021 times, but the vicious swell didn’t deter many competitors from braving the ocean on Easter Sunday.

A total of 117 competitors took to the water for the annual event.

Event organiser Nicole Hodgson said the 1600m swim may have been closer to 2km as a number of buoys may have shifted due to swell in the lead-up to the race.

Coten battled hard through the large swell on the day as he faced stiff competition from his counterparts Giacomo Lucivero and Weller, however the young powerhouse stood up in the end, finishing with a time of 24mins.17secs to round off a perfect weekend.

Lucivero and Weller were neck-and-neck in the final stretch with the two contestants battling desperately for the runner-up spot.

But Weller narrowly edged out Lucivero by just one second, finishing in 25:40 to Lucivero’s 25:41.

Christine Murray (27:16) finished fourth while Angus Bowles (27:38) was not far behind taking out the fifth spot in overall rankings.

Bowles, Daniel Macy (27:52) and Benjamin Ruett (27:53) all rounded out the top five in the male division.

Last year’s female winner Christine Murray’s time of 27:16 secured her the runner-up spot in the female division, as she swam impressively in the last stretch to edge out Rene Watson (27:58).

Sharan Colliss (30:36) and Hodgson (30:55) finished fourth and fifth respectively in the female division.

Hodgson lauded the efforts of all involved on the day.

“Thankfully the wind was in the right direction so it wasn’t choppy but it was quite a big swell that made coming in a bit tricky for a few swimmers,” she said.

“Our huge water safety crew got everyone in safe and sound.”