East Hampton Volunteer Ocean Rescue Red Devil Swim 2017

EAST HAMPTON PRESS

August 23, 2017     Page A 16

Conditions Lead To Fast Finishes In Eighth Annual Red Devil Swim

"Aidan Forst, left, won the half-mile and Ethan McCormac won the quarter-mile races at the Red Devil Open Water Swim on Saturday at Atlantic Avenue Beach in Amagansett. The PEACE beach towel blankets were donated to EHVOR by Natural Life."       Photo by Helene Forst.

Article by Drew Budd "A heavy west to east sweep along the south shore of the East End, coupled with a decent breeze, helped swimmers finish the eighth annual Red Devil Swim in Amagansett quickly on Saturday. Since the open water swim is a fundraiser for East Hampton Volunteer Ocean Rescue, specific times aren’t that big of a deal, but EHVOR chief T.J. Calabrese said that with the first race beginning around 5:15 p.m., the final competitor of all three races was in by no later than 6 p.m. Usually the three races on the day are set apart by 20 minutes, but because they were getting done so fast, there was a 15-minute break between the first and second race and a 10-minute break between the second and third.  “The first person out of the water of the mile race was in under 20 minutes. That’s unbelievable,” Calabrese said. Amagansett’s own Tom McGlade won the first race, which was the mile, while Aidan Forst won the half mile race and Ethan McCormac won the quarter mile race. There were 70 swimmers total; 22 in both the mile and half mile, 26 in the quarter. All races began at Indian Wells Beach and wrapped up at Atlantic Avenue Beach. Calabrese said that even though the races were done quickly there were some challenging conditions with some rough surf and crowded beaches. With EHVOR running the show there were plenty of lifeguards on hand assisting with the race. There were guards on jet skis setting up the buoys along the beach, guards on paddleboards and a number of guards in the water along with the swimmers for assistance."