Wayland's 5th Annual Open Water Swim a Success

The article below was provided by Ben Downs.

The Wayland Community Pool hosted its fifth annual open water swim on Lake Cochituate. This year’s race featured more than 100 participants ranging in age from 10 to 68. The event had two different distances for the swimmers to choose from: a 3-mile course and a 1-mile course. All races started and ended at the Wayland Town Beach.

The Wayland Community Pool would like to thank the Wayland Recreation Department for allowing us to use the beach and facilities. We are especially thankful to the guards who got there very early on Father’s Day to open the beach.   

The first wave of swimmers started the 3-mile course at 7:50 a.m. The first finishers for the men were Alex Meyer in 1:01.05 and Eric Nilsson in 1:02.46. The very fast times were expected as Alex Meyer is the current national champion in the 10,000-meter event and represented the USA in the 2012 Olympics. Eric Nilsson was a stand out swimmer at Weston High School and has been a top ranked open water swimmer and triathlete. The top women finishers in the 3-mile race were Wayland’s own Michelle Mittelsteadt in 1:31.16 and Suzanne LaFleur in 1:32.45. 

The second wave of swimmers started at 9:45 a.m. The Harvard Men’s Swim and Dive team was well represented by the top two finishers Tyler Rocca and Christian Carbone who were ahead of their other three teammates. Wayland High School’s star swimmer Emily Wright was first out of the water for the women followed by Jennifer Scalise. In the age group results: Under 18 - Andrew Gillooly for the men and Hana Batt for the women; 18-25 - Tyler Rocca for the men and Emily Wright for the women; 26-35 - Katherine Owen for the women; 36-45 - Jennifer Scalise for the woman and Dave Titus for the men; 46-55 - Jeanne Downs (Wayland Jr. Warriors Coach) for the women and Randy James for the men; 56-65 - Tom Bryand for the men; and 66-75 - Bob Somma for the men. Winners for the wetsuit division were Kim Cardenas for the women and Bill Tharion for the men.

The event was a great morning of community and competition, as 30 swimmers from Wayland participated and one family (the Devlins) had four wimmers. The fundraising this year set a record and it would not have been possible without all of the volunteers that organized and ran the event. A special thank you to Jen Dutton and her family for all that they do to make this a fun event.