Swimming: Taking the plunge at the Whanganui Bridge to Bridge Swim this month

Georgina Bryant has won the last two Whanganui Bridge to Bridge events.

As they have since the early 20th century, the brave and hardy will be hitting the water in a fortnight's time for the annual Whanganui Multisport & Triathlon Club's Bridge to Bridge Swim.

The down-stream event has two length options to compete in – the traditional 3.2km swim from the Aramoho Whanganui Rowing Club heading south towards the township, finishing alongside Union Boat Club, as well as the shorter 1.1km section which starts further along the route.

Spokeswoman Margie Chiet said a group of masters swimmers have been training in the mornings for the event, and have found the awa to be running beautifully.

This year's race had its date moved further along to March 28 to hopefully line up with the best river conditions, with the 2pm start time being one hour past full tide.

Last year, the tide was running very fast, which made for good times, but also made a real challenge for tired swimmers who took the middle of the river or overshot the shoreline entry point to then swim their way back over and upstream - so pontoons will be in place.

The original Bridge to Bridge Swim was held in 1910, but did not become a regular fixture until 1927, aside from the dark years of 1979 to 1996 when no swimming events were allowed due to the state of the river.

While there is an overall winner, the top silver trophy will be awarded to the first swimmer home without a wetsuit, as such swimwear did not exist in the original events.

But a range of trophies are up for grabs, as Chiet said wetsuits would be a necessity for most masters swimmers.

"The older people that swim, there's quite a lot of them. That needs to be done for their health."

The 2017 and 2019 swims were won by standout Nga Tawa Diocesan School triathlete Georgina Bryant.

Last year there were 35 entries overall – 24 in the 3.2km race and 11 in the 1km swim, which was won by Whanganui Collegiate's Georgia Abraham.

In the feature race, six of the first seven finishers were women.

The 2018 race was called off two days beforehand due to the Whanganui River reaching its highest levels in 12 months, making conditions unsafe with fast running water and extra debris.

Current river swimmers in training for the annual Bridge to Bridge Swim on March 28.