Mandurah open water swimming star Rebekah Weller will take to the water for her first competitive swim of the season this weekend.
The local legend will dive head first into round two of the WA Open Water Swimming Series in Coogee, having missed the round one leg in Karratha.
"I'm just so excited," Weller said.
"I'm so happy to be back in the water swimming competitively."
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The event will officially bring to end what has been a challenging off-season for the gun swimmer, whose winter training program was heavily interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Weller would usually spend up to 24 hours per week swimming in the pool as part of her training regime through the cold months.
But with the Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre facilities closed due to the pandemic, she was forced to brave the cold and merciless conditions of the ocean.
"It's been a tough winter," she said.
"Swimming long distances in the ocean on cold and rainy days isn't exactly my usual training for that time of year, so it was a huge challenge for me.
"I've had that some schedule for 10 years so I was pretty lost for a little bit. I spent a lot of time swimming at Town Beach to make up for it.
"Thankfully that's all over, and now I'm just excited for the summer."
Weller has made a name for herself as one of WA's finest distance swimmers in recent years, and will once again be eyeing off events like the Port to Pub and Rottnest Channel Swim this season.
"Those are two of the big ones," she said.
"I'm definitely looking forward to Rottnest, that's always a great swim."
But it all starts in Coogee this Saturday, where Weller is hoping to get off to a good start.
"I'm hoping the harsher training conditions this year make it feel a little bit easier," she said.
"Hopefully I can start off with a good swim and just keep things going from there."
After the Coogee stop, the Open Water Swim Series will make its way to Mandurah for round three on Saturday, November 7.
Weller said it was always an exciting prospect to swim at her home beach.
"I've always really enjoyed the Mandurah event," she said.
"I've had a few good results there so hopefully I can keep that going."