With a time of 33 minutes, Chip Peterson of Chapel Hill was the first contestant to cross the finish line south of Johnnie Mercer’s Pier in Wrightsville Beach for the 10th annual Wilmington Family YMCA Pier-2-Pier swim Saturday, Sept. 13. Peterson and the nearly 400 other swimmers in the water swam the 2-mile stretch of open ocean from Crystal Pier to Johnnie Mercer’s Pier against the light north wind.
Earlier in the morning, Wilmington Family YMCA Cape Fear Aquatic Club head coach Gavin Spake said the wind was blowing from the south as forecasted, thus causing race organizers to set the start of the race at Crystal Pier so contestants could swim with the wind. However, the weather had other ideas and the wind switched from the north shortly before the start of the race at 9 a.m.
The wind did not stop the top swimmers from finishing in good time.
Peterson was followed by Connor Williams at 37:08 minutes and Noah Cairns at 37:15. Top female finishers were Caty Hulsey at 37:26, Danielle Silverling at 37:53 and Meghan Joram at 37:54.
Peterson, a 2010 graduate of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, was on the UNC swim team during his college years but experienced medical setbacks afterward. Following a diagnosis of ulcerative colitis, Peterson needed to have a colectomy and his last surgery in November 2013. Since that time, he has competed in six 10k swim races and said it felt great to take first in the Pier-2-Pier.
“After all that I decided to get back in the water and start training because I did not feel like I fulfilled all my goals in swimming,” Peterson said. “This is a great local race and a good tune up for bigger open-water races to come. I just pushed the pace the whole way and I felt good out there.”
Third-place female contestant Meghan Joram,17, came to Wrightsville Beach from Winston Salem with numerous members of the Tyde Swim Club. A majority of the teenaged teammates had competed in the swim two or three times.
All members of the team said the swim was a good test and those who were return swimmers said they were glad there were no -jellyfish in the water like there was in 2012.
After finishing the race, Spake said Saturday’s race was one of the only times the event has maxed out with around 400 contestants registered.
“It is good to get out there and compete,” Spake said. “I had some of my swim team kids doing it, too, and two of the guys beat me. One of them is 11 so that was a little embarrassing.”
email [email protected]
