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Rubicons

"if your drive is to swim then you have noticed an art form"

We came up with the idea of The Ruby sitting by the 'Purple Sculpture' near the mythical #thatwanakatree drinking a beer after yet another evening swim. That was the end of February 2014, shortly after fellow Wanaka swimmer and (then) Kai Cafe owner Roger North attempted his top to bottom swim of The Lake.

... now look

The Ruby | The Tree of Wanaka
Jamie

Jamie Norman :

 

Jamie is as local as a Wanaka local can be. Having actually been born in Wanaka and lived here all his life, he knows everything there is to know about the lake and its environs. There's some stories hidden in there...

Jamie loves swimming to the island, the first time as a 16 year old with a group of friends - and not much else! To create this event and make the experience accessible to everyone is truly a great thing. Hell, he even named his daughter Ruby!

 

Jamie works at 'Have a Crack' but his passion was his involvement with the iconic Rippon Music Festival as site manager since its inception and as a consequence acted as site manager for the 1st Ruby Island Caberet event in 2013.

 

Apart from drinking beer, Jamie likes to fish, chop wood, shoot, make babies and keep it real in the hometown.

Eddie

: Eddie Spearing

 

After encountering Snowboarding at the end of the nineteen hundred and eighties, and as a Skater For Life, Eddie became event director for the annual British Snowboard Championships for fourteen years - The Brits, which took place all over europe, plus the summer time British Dryslope Series. That was all glued together as president of the national association and owner of the largest action sports publishing house of that fun and lively era of snowboardings early development.

 

He has lived in Wanaka since 2002 and is well known in the community. After catching the Triathlon bug Eddie has competed in four Challenge Half events, completed the full iron distance length event in 2018, and also raced XTerra's and a huge amount of biking.

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