The Warrnambool swimmer put his surf life saving training to good use on Sunday, tackling the series’ second leg at Lady Bay.

Isaac, 12, said he was happy to finish the swim in 29 minutes and 19 seconds.

“I was going to do the Port Fairy one but I wasn’t there for it, so this was my first one,” he said.

“I found it fun, just relaxing. The last bit was hard and the first part because it was cold.”

The St Joseph’s Primary School student is a member of Warrnambool Surf Life Saving Club and also plays football for Hawks.

“I like nippers and board paddling, I like watersports,” Isaac said.

Melbourne-based competitor Hamish Rowland took out overall honours – just a fortnight after finishing second to Olympic swimmer Mack Horton in the series’ opener in Port Fairy.

Warrnambool duo Mitchell Gristede and Sophie Thomas, who was the first female across the line, rounded out the top-three placings.

Rowland, who is chasing back-to-back series wins, crossed the finish line in 18 minutes and 51 seconds.

“Going out with the buoys, it was a different set up to some of the other swims,” he said.

“Coming back off the first buoy, it was hard to see some of the cans in front just because of the swell, so it was a bit challenging.

“But it was flat which made it pretty quick.”

Rowland goes to Horton’s former school, Caulfield Grammar, and said it was exciting to swim alongside the Rio de Janerio gold medallist in Port Fairy.

“It was good to be right behind an Olympic champion,” he said.

Thomas’ win kick-started a busy period for the univeristy student.

She will compete at the Life Saving Australia national championships in Queensland this week before preparing for a jam-packed Swimming Victoria country championships campaign in late January.

Thomas finished in 19 minutes and five seconds – just two seconds behind Gristede in the overall standings.

Emma Ragg (21.42) and Sarah Flaherty (21.52) rounded out the women’s top-three.

“The conditions were really good but I found it really hard along the back to find the cans but one of the water safety guys starting paddling in front of me, which was handy,” Thomas said.

“Hamish and Mitch sat on my feet across the back and I knew they were going to come past me.

“But you’ve got to get out there to try and stay in front. It’s better to be out there than try and chase.”

Thomas Spafford (open male), Lesley-Anne Elbourne (senior female), Finn Proper (senior male), Vladimira Keegan (master female), Ian Neville (master male), Sandra Skilbeck (veteran female), Darren Reynolds (veteran male), Mary Coverdale (super veteran female) and Denys Dodd (super veteran male) were sectional winners.