Male swimmer pulled from water during Rottnest Channel Swim suffering from hypothermia

A 49-year-old swimmer was pulled from the water during the Rottnest Channel Swim suffering from hypothermia.

The man raised the alarm just north of Phillip Rock at the 18-19km mark at 1.20pm and was taken by boat to Fremantle.

He was then transferred by ambulance to Fiona Stanley Hospital and is in a stable condition.

The race kicked off in cool and cloudy conditions this morning, with Dutchman Lars Bottelier winning the gruelling open-water race in a time of 4 hours, 18 minutes and 26 seconds.

Zoe Whitfield, from NSW, was the first female solo swimmer across the line, clocking a time of 4 hours 48 minutes and nine seconds.

2400 participants took part in this year’s event with swimmers hitting the water for the 19.7km swim to Rottnest from Cottesloe just after 6am.

Most took between six and eight hours to finish the journey.