Luane Rowe wins Cole Classic

2010 Industrial Design Final year student Luane Rowe has won the Cole Classic ocean swim for the second time! The Sydney Morning Herald Cole Classic is Australia’s largest ocean swim, and this year hosted a record amount of participants with over 4100 people swimming either a 1km or 2km course from Shelley Beach to Manly Beach. Rowe was the winner of the 2km Women’s Elite Swim, completing the course in 26 minutes and 13 seconds. Rowe has competed in the classic for the past eight years. She won the women’s event last year, and finished third overall.

Rowe was a member of the UNSW Built Environment Industrial Design graduating class for 2010. Her passion for open water swimming became the theme for her major final year project. Luane investigated endurance swimming and designed FuelUp – an sustenance delivery system for open water swimming. The design included an on the go sustenance cap with gel packs inserted into the cap. The gel is consumed by the swimmer through a straw, allowing the swimmer to continue with little disturbance over short distances. Luane also designed an apparatus (pictured below) that included a belt and pole supporting two cups of sustenance liquid that can be held out to the swimmer. This apparatus would be typically used to help sustain swimmers for longer distances.

The Built Environment congratulates Luane on her achievements in the Cole Classic, and wishes her all the best for next year.