The 1.4-kilometre swim, which was the third and final round of the Shipwreck Coast Swim Series, attracted a solid 173 entries.

Series director Anne Kerr said the weather forecast looked fine early but strong winds quickly sparked organisers into action.

“We set the course up early in the morning when everything was looking OK,” she told The Standard.

“But the change came through at about 10.15am and the water got very choppy.

“The buoys were moving around a lot in the water.”

The starting line was moved closer toward the Harbour Pavilion, compared to the original Worm Bay start and swimmers swam towards the breakwater before turning left to the Warrnambool Surf Life Saving Club. To avoid seaweed, the finish line was shifted slightly towards the Flume.

The number of safety boats and patrols was also boosted.

“There was a plentiful supply of water safety,” Kerr said.

“We had a very competent board paddler, Jackson Fary, who led the swimmers around the course.”

Some pre-registered competitors did not arrive for the event yesterday while morning entries were also down.

Kerr said the weather was largely to blame for the below-average numbers at the Warrnambool round.

However, strong turnouts at Port Fairy on January 2 and Port Campbell on January 22 made up for the weekend.

“It was a very successful series,” Kerr said.

“Overall entries were up, which was terrific.”

Junior superfish Isaac Jones repeated his efforts from Port Fairy and blitzed the field to be the first over the line yesterday morning.

The teenager’s time of 14 minutes and 27 seconds was almost two minutes faster than his closest rivals Jordan Logan (16:09) and Dylan Lee (16:16).

Jones was ineligible for the overall series honours as he missed the Port Campbell swim due to country championship commitments.

Endeavour Hills’ Ebony Ebenwaldner was the first female home with a time of 16:27, followed by junior Brittney Berger (16:51) and open competitor Georgia Johnston (18:40).

mrooth@standard.fairfa x.com.au