Development of the mass participation Ocean Swim Series in New Zealand Interview with Scott Rice, Director, Quantum Events Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand

Abstract

Scott Rice, a former New Zealand representative swimmer, saw an opening in the marketplace to introduce open water swimming. With the popularity of multi-sport, triathlon, paddling, cycling and running in the country, Scott knew that ocean swimming would capture the sport participant's imagination. He started in 2003 with the King of the Bays 2.8km ocean swim on Auckland's North Shore. The following year the Auckland Harbour Crossing was introduced, with participants swimming from the North Shore across the harbour and finishing at the viaduct in Auckland's central business district. By 2006 the State New Zealand Ocean Swim Series was in operation, with five events around the country, and in 2009 a sixth event was added to the series. The State NZ encourages people of all ages and abilities to take part: events now include a beginner's distance of 750m, a tag team relay and a 200m State Oceankids for children aged 10 and under. As many as 1,500 swimmers participate at each stop in the series. Through Quantum Events Ltd, in 2005 Scott created the Beach Series, which takes place over 16 weeks in the summer for ski paddlers, stand-up paddlers, waka-ama [outrigger canoe] paddlers, runners and swimmers. Close to 500 people attend the weekly Tuesday night gathering at Takapuna Beach on Auckland's North Shore. Quantum Events is the event management company which produces both the State New Zealand Ocean Swim Series and the Beach Series. Scott and his wife Natasha, who has also had a major part in working within Quantum Events, are now joined by four full-time staff and contractors working on various aspects of the business. GD: What is the role of the pro/elite athletes in this race from a marketing point of view? SR: They can provide the aspiration aspect for younger swimmers. Athletes can benchmark their abilities against these athletes, and this is a sport where you can line up next to the best in the world and compete. From a media point of view, their presence creates some hype around the event and assists in creating 'sporting celebs' in ocean swimming. This allows the events to cultivate an international field as well as to highlight the homegrown heroes. GD: How different would the race be if it only had the age-groupers? SR: From a media point of view, this is hard. We like to provide a human interest story in each of our events that focuses on an 'age-group athlete/celebrity', but like any sport on TV, people like to see the performance of the top athletes and see how the event unfolds. We do recognise the elite swimmers might grab the headlines, but what motivates us as organisers is the everyday kiwis that choose the State NZ Ocean Swim Series as their motivation, their goal, as they look to make a change in their lives. GD: What impact would it have on the viability of the event with only age-groupers? SR: There is a viability of the event without elite competitors. We are talking about 10 to 15 athletes who could be considered elite in a field of up to 1,500. The elite field provides the opportunity for coverage in newspapers and television that you would have to work a lot harder to achieve in a social event. GD: What tensions may exist between catering to the elite field and the large age-group field? SR: In the Ocean Swim Series there aren't any tensions that I can think of--there is usually a major difference in [physical] abilities, so at the start of the race they tend to clear away very quickly. The only issue in the Ocean Swims may come in a two-lap course, where faster swimmers are lapping slower swimmers, which at the end of the race can be the difference between first and second. GD: What is the role of the celebrity entrant? SR: For our event the celebrity plays a role where an event such as this becomes real and achievable to anyone--if a [local television drama] Shortland Street star can do it or a member of parliament, then a 'so can I' mentality exists. …