Quarter Bean

Quarter Bean

Eight hundred metres in the harbour off Mission Bay, starting and finishing on the same beach at Selwyn Domain. The Quarter Bean is the first open-water race for many swimmers and for older children, and the organiser gives every finisher a ribbon rather than ranking it for prizes. Lifeguards and medical staff patrol the water, as they do for every race in the New Zealand Ocean Swim Series.

The 35-minute cut-off is about four and a half minutes per 100 m, so the question is not speed but comfort in open water: sighting, swimming without a wall to touch, and a sea temperature the organiser puts at around 19–21 °C in December. The organiser’s age rule for the Quarter Bean differs between two parts of its page, so check the entry form. Registration opens at 06:30 on the day, and the swim ends in time for the 12:15 prize giving.

This page covers the 2026 Quarter Bean. Most supporters will watch this one from the sand, but a swimmer can still share a Livebib link with someone who cannot be there: it opens in a browser, shows the position on the course and a finish estimate, and marks any stretch where the phone lost its fix as estimated.