West Australia’s most loves swim is turning 30
When Max Higgins suggested organising a swim around Busselton’s beloved jetty to his wife Jenny, she was sceptical that anyone would want to swim that far.
Fast forward to today and Busselton Jetty Swim’s organising committee is ready to open registrations for the 30th event which will see 3,500 people take on the signature 3.6km Solo Swim.
Busselton Jetty Swim has become Western Australia’s most loved open water swimming event, attracting swimmers from around the globe. While the inaugural event had just 82 participants, it is now held annually over two days with more than 5,0000 swimmers of all ages and abilities participating in range of distances.
President of Busselton Jetty Swim’s volunteer organising committee, Kat Rafferty, said that what differentiated the event from other open water swims was its focus on community.
“Busselton Jetty Swim is swim for everybody, it is everybody’s swim,” she said.
“The event is all about participation, so whether you’re a seasoned swimmer or just looking to challenge yourself, there is a distance to you. Plus, you won’t find a more supportive, inclusive or friendly event – it’s what keeps people coming back year after year.”
To cater for Busselton Jetty Swim’s growing popularity, the event continues to evolve, and Kat announced several changes facing the 2025 event.
“Every year we are overwhelmed by demand for entries so over the years we have expanded the number of categories, spread the event to two days and introduced a ballot system to register for our Sunday events.”
” To increase the number of entries available this year we’ve decided to dedicate Sunday to the solo swimmers and move our team events to Saturday. This means we’ll run the 3.6km solo swim and the one mile swim to shore on Sunday 9 Feb and the rest of our events on Saturday 8th.”
“We are also introducing a virtual swim for anyone who can’t make it to Busselton who wants to set themselves a challenge.”
The One Mile Swim to Shore involves jumping off the end of the Jetty and swimming 1.6km to the finish line and will be on Sunday with registration via the ballot. In additional to the team events, Saturday programme will include Simon’s 500m Shortcut Swim and the Kids Swim.
Kat said the committee was excited to be celebrating the 30th anniversary of Busselton Jetty Swim and planned to make more announcements about the event in coming months.
“We’ve secured an incredible ambassador, and a fantastic headliner for our free sunset concert – it going to a great weekend, and we can’t wait!”
The 30th Busselton Jetty Swim will be held on the 8th & 9th February. The online ballot will be open from October 1 to 9, 2024. For more information or to enter the ballot go to busseltonjettyswim.org.au.