Championships draw EP’s open water finest
THIS weekend sees a showdown of Eastern Province’s top open water swimmers as the Nelson Mandela Bay Aquatics (NMBA) Open Water Swim Championships take place at Marina Martinique.
Tomorrow will feature the NMBA 5km Championships starting at 2pm, while Sunday hosts the NMBA 10km Championships at 9am and the 3km Championships at noon.
Other swimming events on offer this weekend will be a 3km swim on Saturday starting at 2.10pm for swimmers requiring an additional 3km qualifying time, and on Sunday there will be a 1km and a 500m swim, open to all.
SA Schools swimming captain Ian Venter heads the standings for this weekend’s 5km swim with a qualifying time of one hour one minute, but can expect tough competition from Aquabear swim club teammates Credence Pattinson, Slater Black, Nicholas Adam and Cole Craig.
NMMU student Kirsten Marriott will be looking for the win in the women’s 5km swim, but will have to fight hard against the likes of Woodridge College’s Amica de Jager, PEA’s Jessica Canter and Infinity swimmer Hannah Haswell.
Sunday’s 10km swim already has half a dozen pre-entries, mostly from the Western Cape, but will also feature St Francis-based Liquid Lines swimmer Amica de Jager and Port Elizabeth’s Kevin Richards.
Sunday’s 3km swim will be the showdown of the season with a much anticipated swim-off between Ian, Credence, Slater and Cullen Biddulph.
Slater and Cullen featured in a fantastic tie during round three towards the end of last year, touching in a time of 37 minutes 58 seconds with Ian’s best for the season in the series, which was 38:04 in a race in which he was not pushed to the line.
The women’s 3km will be equally as exciting, with the eventual winner sure to come from Jessica Beukes, Jessica, Payton Horton or Tasneen Ebrahim.
With visiting swimmers from Border, Southern Cape and Western Cape having entered for this weekend’s events, the competition is expected to ensure some fast Swimming SA qualifying times.
Online registration is still available at www.ecswim.co.za
Late entries will be accepted at the marina until 30 minutes before the specific race starts.
The best vantage point for spectators is from the Marina Wharf Restaurant.
Following the championships, the Nelson Mandela Bay Aquatics team will be selected for the upcoming SA Open Water Championships at the beginning of March in Port Elizabeth.