It may be held in saltwater but it will be a team from the bush that will create a swell at this year's two kilometre Coffs Harbour Ocean Swim on Sunday, with swimmers from The Armidale School making up more than a quarter of all entrants.
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A record number of 110 students and four staff from TAS will head down the mountain at dawn for this year's 22nd annual event where they will be challenged by swimming out of their depth, not easily seeing where they are going nor dwelling too much on what may be beneath.
For some years the TAS group has been the largest team in the event, growing from two boys and a teacher in 2003.
"The Coffs swim is a really great event for swimmers who are competitive and those who are not regular swimmers, wanting to do it for fun," the school's swimming captain Jesse Streeting said.
"It isn't so daunting that students won't give it a go, but still sets them a personal challenge.
"One of the best parts is the way everyone supports each other, clapping them as they come into shore."
Streeting finished sixth overall last year in front of more than 300 finishers, in what was his first ever ocean swim.
"At a personal level, I'm looking at beating my time of last year and also improving on my placing now I'm more familiar with the course," he said.
Some will undertake the swim because it is part of the school's Triple Crown award (for those who achieve the swim, the 14km City to Surf and either the Tour de Rocks cycle or the 111km Hawkesbury Canoe Classic during their time at the school); others will do it as part of triathlon training.
The swim is also a requisite component of the school's surf life saving program, in which Year 11 students can achieve their Surf Bronze Medallions in conjunction with Sawtell Surf Life Saving Cub.
The first TAS winner home is awarded the Pacific Plate, another incentive to those with a competitive bent.
"It says a lot about the calibre of our students that they are prepared to get up early, get on a bus for
a five hour return trip and go out of their comfort zones in such a way," the school's swimming coordinator Jim Pennington said.
"Whether it is the reward for chasing a personal best time or just overcoming a fear of the unknown will be equally gratifying for those rising to the challenge."