Bourton swimmer takes on Lake Geneva Swim Association’s Classique

Bourton Roadrunner member Maxine Emes has ditched her trainers and is making a splash in the world of open-water swimming.

Maxine’s latest race came in central Europe last week when she competed at the Lake Geneva Swim Association’s Classique.

Maxine finished the race as the fifth fastest lady

The 13-kilometre swim across Lake Geneva began at the Olympic capital of Lausanne and finished in Evian.

In 30 degrees heat, Maxine was able to finish 24th overall in a field of just over 200 participants.

Clocking in at a time of four hours, 52 minutes and 35 seconds, Maxine finished as the fifth fastest lady.

Speaking after the event, Maxine said: “The swim was spectacular and gave the unique opportunity to start in one country and finish in another.

“It was much longer than I was expecting owing to difficulties that we all experienced with sighting- as there were fairly small buoys every 2.5km which we had to try and look out for, this inevitably resulted in quite a lot of zig-zagging.

“It felt fairly lonely at the half way point as the field was spread apart, but I was very lucky to then find someone who was swimming at my pace and we continued the race together helping each other to locate the elusive buoys and finish line.

“I was absolutely thrilled to finish as high up in the field as I did, probably helped by muscle memory and a childhood swimming with Evesham Swim Club.”

Maxine felt her training at Evesham Swimming Club helped her in the race at Lake Geneva

Maxine hasn’t really left running behind though and her partner Darren Long has been proudly waving the flag for the Bourton Roadrunners.

Darren maintained his prospects of a Gloucestershire Road County Series medal with an impressive performance on a hot Tuesday evening at the Blaisdon 10k.

Darren saw off age-group competitors to finish first among the men over 50s, a time of 39 minutes and 59 seconds earning him 11th place overall.

Meanwhile, fellow Roadrunners took part in park runs across the country over the weekend.

Chris Day completed the Cheltenham Pittville Park run in a time of 34 minutes and 10 seconds, Maite Capper finished the Witney run in 25 minutes and 32 seconds, and Jaq Underwood cross the line in the Newport parkrun in 24 minutes and 13 seconds.