Teen blitzes Olympians

REMEMBER the name Hayden Cotter.

The 16-year-old rising star caused one of the biggest upsets in the Pier To Pub’s recent history, stunning a red-hot field to claim the famous 1.2km open water swim in Lorne on Saturday.

Cotter, who was the 10th seed for the race, ended Sam Sheppard’s dominance of the men’s event in unbelievable fashion, swimming clear of Olympians Mack Horton and Gregorio Paltrinieri in the shallows to seal a memorable victory.

The Brisbane-based teenager was locked in an epic three-way battle with the experienced Horton and Paltrinieri for much of the race, but was up and out of the water quicker than his rivals, stopping the clock in 10 minutes 54 seconds.

Rio gold medallist Horton, who has now been runner-up in his last three attempts at the Pier To Pub, was five seconds behind.

Italian Paltrinieri finished the course in 11 minutes and three seconds.

Sheppard fell short of an eighth Pier To Pub crown, finishing 21 seconds behind in sixth.

Cotter said he was blown away by the result. “It’s amazing to come out here and beat some really high-class swimmers,” Cotter said. “It’s good, knowing they’re Olympians makes it even better to beat them.

“I knew it was really close (in the water). I was just hoping to get a good run out onto the beach and it ended up happening.

“It’s the first time I’ve come down for the race and it’s turned out to be a good one. I was hoping to more go top five-ish, just have a good swim in the opens and then I ended up having a really good one.”

The youngster, who is ranked second in his age group in the country for open water swimming, had every right to melt under the pressure in the water from the 600m mark.

Locked in a three-way battle with two world class swimmers brings significant heat. But Cotter swam well above his years, making a crucial move to head left instead of going with the field to the right.

“It was really hard. Mostly everyone went out to the right and I followed one guy to the left and went past him and backed myself the whole way. It worked out well,” Cotter said.

“It wasn’t planned but you’ve got to do what happens in the race.

“I just got out running first and that always helps. I had a lead and it was amazing.

“I knew I had to be out and under the water first otherwise I didn’t think I was going to beat them.”

The open win finished a memorable day for Cotter, who also claimed the junior Pier to Pub event earlier in the afternoon.

Meanwhile, the men’s 5km event was claimed by Robbe Dilissen in 59 minutes 41 seconds.

The top three all broke one hour with Blair Day and Ryan Bullock making up the minor placings.