March Poutū-te-rangi 2026
www.Eastbourneherald.co.nz
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Eastbourne Wharf to Wharf Swim Claire Allan
After rather inconsistent training weather over the summer and concerns about water quality, the Eastbourne Wharf to Wharf team were happy with the 108 swimmers that turned out for the 2026 race from Days Bay Wharf to Rona Wharf on the 1st March. People enter the race for lots of different reasons. This year we had a group of five 24-year-old friends who swam the race, three of them using it as a warm-up for the ironman race the following weekend in Taupo. Eastbourne locals, Josh Mallet and Jack Healey, plus their school friend Oliver Hourigan. Toby Mark was one of this group along with Eastbourne local Ben Grenfell (see photo on page 3). For the last 20 years Mandy Holmwood has been volunteering her time to run the Wharf-toWharf swim along with help from her husband Mark. Mandy has decided it is time to move on to other things. We wanted to say a huge thank you to Mandy for her commitment to this community event that has been running for at least 70 years, and possibly longer and can’t run without
people like Mandy. Mandy will be missed but we wish her well on her next adventures. Ray Gough, who won the race 16 times over the years and
trained many swimmers at the swim club, donated a cup before he died. The cup was to be awarded for sportsmanship for the event. This year the cup went to Romy Anderson who has been volunteering on the day at the finish line of this event for 20 years. A huge shout out goes to Romy for being one of the many
volunteers that keep turning up and supporting this event. More photos and stories - page 3.
Toby finishing the race with Romy Anderson congratulating him
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