Swimming: Rush hour traffic on the Waitemata

This year’s field again includes a dog called Rosie, who finished ahead of most of the two-legged entrants last year.

There will be no short cut under the pylons for swimmers looking for a late advantage in tomorrow's 2.8km harbour crossing.

Organisers of the second ocean swim have closed that loophole at the business end of the course and made for a better finish in the Viaduct Harbour.

"There won't be a repeat of what happened last year," said organiser Scott Rice. "We did not expect swimmers to swim the course they did and have made changes accordingly."

The field of close to 900 will start at Stanley Bay and will have to swim with the big marker buoys to their right and, on entering the viaduct basin, head right to the finish, the opposite to last year's finish.

This year's course is about 300m longer but Rice expects the winning time will be within a couple of minutes of last year's efforts by Brent Foster and Helen Norfolk.

Both will be back to defend their titles and chase the $1000 first prize at stake in their respective races.

Also back is last year's runner-up, Robert Voss, who was just caught by Foster.

They will not have the race to themselves, however, as the field includes other international swimmers, surf-lifesavers and triathletes.

Dean Kent will again be a contender and, given his recent good form, could be one to beat as will Olympic triathlete Nathan Richmond and former world junior triathlon and duathlon champion Terenzo Bozzone.

Norfolk's competition will come from her North Shore Swim Club team-mates Rebecca Linton and Melissa Ingram.

The biggest challenge to this trio could come from world under-23 triathlon champion Andrea Hewitt who has already qualified for next year's Commonwealth Games triathlon. She is a former national surf lifesaving representative.

At 72, former Ironman New Zealand finisher Dave Blackie will be the oldest starter. He is joined by fellow 72-year-old Alex Hill. The oldest woman is Dorothy Foster, 67.

The youngest competitor will swim in the under-20 female section. At eight years, Rosie the dog will also be the smallest in the field. She will again be accompanied by her owner, Belinda Carpenter. Rosie finished in the first half of the 483-strong field last year.

The race, promoted by Quantum Events with the full support of the Auckland and North Shore City Councils, continues to grow in popularity as more and more swimmers pay $45 for the privilege of making their way across the harbour.

Rice said the entry cut-off, a week ago, was made in the interest of safety but he expects the field to grow to around 1200 next year.

He hopes the race in 2006 will double as the New Zealand open water championship.

"We want a quality event with a big emphasis on safety," said Rice.

"We could have gone to 1200 starters this year but we want to let the race grow progressively. The safety of the swimmers - and they are of all abilities - is paramount."

The race starts at 9.25am with the first swimmer expected to run up the finishing ramp around 10am. The cut-off is at 11.15am.