Merrifield Mile mania hits city
From grandmasters swimmers in between, there is something for everyone at this year’s KFC Merrifield Mile coming up on Sunday February 17 at the Wriggleswade Dam.
With four events covering distances from 1.6km, 500m Dash, Terraforce 250m and a KFC Kids Fun Splash, whether you are a serious swimmer or a tiny tyke, as long as you can get wet, you can have fun.
“We love that the KFC Merrifield Mile is a fun day out for the whole family,” organiser Tracey Mangold said.
“The KFC Fun Splash, for kids under the age of 9, is fully supervised and of appropriate distance for even the youngest ones to go out there and have fun in the dam. Then there is the TerraForce 250m for the kids – or adult swimmers – who can swim a comfortable couple of laps in the pool, while the 500m Dash is a good stepping stone towards the full 1.6km (mile) distance, or an opportunity for the really fast swimmers to test their speed,” Mangold said.
“We want to invite the whole family out to have fun here at Wriggleswade. There will be food and craft stalls, jumping castles and loads of prizes for both competitive and lucky entrants across all events.”
KFC Baobab Khulisani principal operator and director Grant Wheatley said KFC was “proud” to partner with Merrifield Prep School and College as lead sponsor of this great event, now in its 17th year.
“The Mile brings our community together to celebrate a day of outdoors in the water, with an event for the whole family to partake in. KFC is a brand that brings people together, that supports good times and sharing, and so showing our support for this great event makes perfect sense,” Wheatley said.
“Getting our kids active is important to us and supporting the Mile stands side-by-side with our continued commitment to children through KFC Mini Cricket in South Africa. “We hope to grow this event with Merrifield in the coming years and to showcase the athletic talent our city has to offer.” One thing about the KFC Merrifield Mile is that swimmers come back again and again, drawn by the festive atmosphere and unique place on the sporting calendar.
Winner of the 500m Dash last year, Alfonso Janse Van Rensburg, said he would be back to defend his title as well as to swim the 1.6km distance.
“I have been swimming the Merrifield Mile events since I was 10 years old,” he said.
“The Merrifield Mile caters for all swimmers, from very young to very old. It is a great family event and has got a nice buzz to it. The event is well organised and I am proud to participate in it.”
Also back will be long distance swimmer Russell Behrens, who last year won the grandmaster category in the 1.6km event.
“I will be coming back this year as I love swimming the KFC Merrifield Mile and training has gone well. “The dam is a lovely setting and the day becomes a really great family outing.
For more information and to enter online, visit www.merrifieldmile.co.za. Entries for all events are also available at Merrifield Prep School and College, Sportsmans Warehouse and Cycle HQ.