Congratulations to Nick Hungerford, Australia's most famous male open water swimmer* who gave a textbook demonstration of how to win a swimming race at the Serpentine on Saturday.
A fan of many sports, including tennis; and having grown up in an era of watching great tennis players, Nick understands the pain of the long distance winner.
Does Nick remember Vitas Gerulaitis and his battle to defeat Jimmy Connors? When he finally achieved the win, Gerulaitis was quoted "And let that be a lesson to you all. Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row." You bet Nick remembers.
Seventeen attempts indeed. But that time span pales for Nick, who has waited 56 years to win his first swimming race, and it happened at the Serpentine. Nick was loyally supported by Hayley, who is not just his black labrador, but one of his two swimming coaches who watched every stroke. His other coach Ray Gibbs, was rumoured to have celebrated by wearing a Wallabies' jersey.
Great swimming and what a trophy Nick.
Yours swimmingly
[John Tierney]
* Australia's most famous female open water swimmer is Kat Jungnickel who also won a race at the Serpentine one week earlier.
LIST OF PREVIOUS WINNERS
| 2000 | Miller Barney |
| 2001 | Phipps Bill |
| 2002 | Adams Nick |
| 2003 | Saruyashi Y. |
| 2004 | Thomas Brian |
| 2005 | Turner Haydn |
| 2006 | Richardson Alice |
| 2007 | McAlpine Anne |
| 2008 | Ranson Matt |
| 2009 | Morony Matthew |
| 2010 | Cleaver Anthony |
| 2011 | Wood Cyril |
| 2012 | Kelly Cameron |
| 2013 | Mavra Ana |
| 2014 | Vanessa Mavra |
| 2015 | Luckhurst John |
| 2016 | Hungerford Nick |
