Glutton for punishment

What would you do after finishing a 10km lake swim?

Well, in Cameron Stanley’s case it was run to the start of another 2.5km swim on Saturday.

Stanley won the The Ruby’s "marathon" 10km race, around a course between Waterfall Creek on the shore of Lake Wanaka and Ruby Island.

He then had 30 seconds to change his swimming cap from pink to red and plunge back into the lake at the start of his second event of the morning — in which he finished third.

Stanley, who is coach for the Wanaka Swim Club, said afterwards his two-race feat was harder than he had expected.

"I was hoping for some flat conditions and being able to cruise around the 10k and then have a go at the two and a-half, but it didn’t really eventuate.

"I had to work a little bit too hard on the 10 to make it in time because conditions weren’t great."

The Ruby swim was put back an hour because of choppy conditions.

The weather improved as the morning wore on, although one swimmer was heard to say she was feeling seasick.

Organiser Eddie Spearing said it had been "touch and go" deciding whether to run the event on Saturday, but he was not aware of swimmers dropping out.

At 450, the number of entries was a record.