Perth swimmer Max Coten first to reach shore in annual Rottnest swim

A support boat for competitors in the Rottnest Channel Swim has sunk after it started taking on water just before 10am on Saturday morning.

An event organiser said everyone was safely evacuated and returned to Fremantle.

It was a cold morning that greeted competitors in this year’s iconic swim with local marathon swimmer Max Coten the first athlete to make it to shore, reaching the island in just over four hours.

Coten (21) made the 19.7 kilometre crossing in 4:02:15, he was closely followed by Italian Alessio Occhipinti (4:08:56) and South African Byron Kimber (4:12:19).

Bianca Monaco was the first female to 4:18:57 to reach Rottnest Island.

The title for fastest solo crossing is Bailey Armstrong who completed the swim in 3:48:14 in 2023.

This year a dozen countries are represented including Germany, Italy, France, Croatia, Great Britain, Ireland, Japan, and the USA.

This year’s youngest solo swimmer is 14-year-old Cooper Chesire while the oldest swimmer overall is 80-year-old John Guilfoyle.

Last year thousands of swimmers were pulled from the water after organisers were forced to abandon the race due to dangerous weather conditions.

Event organisers said it was the second time in its 35 year history that the swim was cancelled due to poor weather conditions, with the other instance occurring in 2007.

In 2018 the event was partially abandoned mid-swim when a competitor spotted a large great white shark swimming along the sea floor. The scare forced organisers to pull all swimmers within a one-kilometre radius of the sighting from the competition.

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.