KEY WEST -- Not even the swine flu, a last minute change in start location or a later start time than usual could keep 33rd annual Swim Around Key West from taking place on Saturday. And in the water, nothing could stop Marcos Diaz, except for the occasional large fish, as he cruised to a 53-minute overall victory.

"This year's starting spot wasn't supposed to be where it was," said race organizer Bill Welzien. "But we didn't count on the swine flu redirecting the cruise ship. That was a last-minute thing, I only found out from the Coast Guard 10 days ago that we could not start our event till the boat was docked. And starting on Smathers that late, we would have not gotten through our tidal windows, so I had to move up the coast and David Foster of Fort Zachary Taylor was so gracious to help us out."

In total, 46 swimmers entered the water off Fort Taylor for the start of the race and 41 of them finished the races as either individuals or as part of a relay team, but it was Diaz that stole the show as he torpedoed around the island.

"This year I think the change of the course made it tougher," said Diaz, who finished with a time of 4:23:19, nearly an hour more than the course record. "It left the side that was exposed to the wind for the finish. I was saving energy for the finish because I knew the end was going to be tough."

Starting in the second wave of swimmers, the Dominican swimmer quickly caught the first pack of swimmers in the harbor and by the time he reached the Sigsbee coast he was well ahead of everyone. Using the current and wind to his advantage, Diaz was on a record-breaking pace by the time he reached Cow Key Bridge, but the final four miles down the Smathers coast were too much of a fight to break the top mark of 3 hours and 31 minutes.

"Overall I felt very, very happy," said Diaz. "It's very nice to swim around an island because you get to see different things in the water. I saw a tarpon for the first time and I almost jumped up on the boat, it was huge. It's a very interesting race and I recommend it for any level swimmer. It a very serious distance, but is also very fun."

As for not breaking the record, Diaz says that once he realized the fight he was in for on the Atlantic side, he knew it was unreachable on Saturday.

"For this year we were really thinking about the record," said Diaz. "But when we knew what we were going to be up against, we knew it was maybe a slower course than it could be."

Reigning champion Heather Carmargo was the top female swimmer to finish with a time of 5:16:53, 12 minutes ahead of second-place female finisher Kathryn Kirmayer. Robert Fary was third overall and second in the men's field with a time of 5:26:26, while Gene Drody and Kris Reich won the two-person relay and Grant Johnson, Magnus Ohlsson and Richard Culberson won the three-person relay in 5:01:32.

"It was good to have Marcos Diaz back, he's a world class swimmer so it's nice to have him," said Welzien. "Heather Camargo did another great job, she was first place last year and was first place female today, and I was able to get my 50th swim finished, so I'm ecstatic about that."

As for next year, Welzien was only able to assure there will be a 34th swim around the island, but where and what time it would start he would not say until he looked at the tidal charts.

"It really will depend on the tides," said Welzien. "If the tide is late and we are going to start in the harbor, then we are going to be finishing late, so it's going to depend on the tide."

jwcooke@keysnews.com