VAN ROUWENDAAL CONQUERS MAIDEN AQUELLÉ MIDMAR MILE
The top three men in the elite aQuellé Midmar Mile race were Connor Buck (17:39), Henré Louw (18:34) and Brendan Visser (18:50).
World 10km champion, Sharon van Rouwendaal, lived up to her billing as the prerace favourite for the aQuellé Midmar Mile on Sunday.
The swimmer from The Netherlands, who was visiting South Africa for the first time to take part in the world’s largest open-water swimming event, dominated the women’s race from the start.
Although she had four-time champion Ashley Twichell, from the United States, on her feet for much of the race, Van Rouwendaal had plenty in the tank to take the win in 18 minutes 40 seconds.
Twichell, who was back at the race after the birth of her first child, was second in 18:44 with defending Midmar champion, Stephanie Houtman, the first South African home in 19:29 in third place.
“I was already challenged in the first 100 or 200m so I thought I need to get out of here and find the position in front and then just control whether people were trying to pass or not,” said Van Rouwendaal, who claimed Olympic marathon swimming gold in 2016 and silver in 2021.
“Then I think around halfway I turned on my back and I saw there was only one person [close by] and I saw it was Ashley so I knew I had to be careful… when I saw the finish, I thought I’d build it up a little bit to get the win.”
The men’s race, meanwhile, had a familiar feel to it as defending champion, Connor Buck, stormed to the front and then swam way to the right of the rest of the field, just like he did a year ago.
The Durban swimmer managed to get himself back on track though and still won the race in a speedy 17:39, just 38 seconds off the men’s record.
Pretoria’s Henré Louw finished second in 18:34 with Buck’s 17-yearold training partner, Brendan Visser, taking third place in a sprint finish in 18:50.
“My sighting wasn’t very good,” Buck said afterwards. “I’m a little bit colour-blind, so trying to see the orange buoys against the grass doesn’t really work. I had to just try and look for the white tent at the finish the whole time.
“Coming into the race, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. You never know what’s happening with the currents and conditions on the day. I was just aiming to swim as fast as I possibly could and hope for the best, so it feels good.”
Other notable finishers were 1977 Midmar champion Paul Blackbeard, who claimed top spot in the 61-70 category in a time of 21:06; and 1996 women’s champion Sheona Lottering, who claimed victory in the 41-50 category.
Both Gail Bristow, who finished in 27:18 and Martin Godfrey, who finished in 30:23, completed their 49th Midmar Miles on Sunday. Godfrey’s time also meant he beat the 2023 times of the two swimmers who finished in front of him at the first-ever Midmar Mile back in 1974: Trevor Strydom and Owen Ryan.
Godfrey said: “I trained harder because I wanted to have a good time this year. I decided I was going to do well and the only way to do well is to train hard… it’s a great event, I’m glad to be part of it, bring on next year.”
Thousands of recreational swimmers also made their way across the dam including former Bafana Bafana soccer star, Mark Fish, and his 12-year-old daughter, Isabella.
The 50th anniversary celebrations also attracted numerous previous champions and race founders.
Full results for the aQuellé Midmar Mile are available on www.midmarmile.co.za
Main event results
Women’s elite:
Sharon van Rouwendaal 18:40 Ashley Twichell 18:44
Stephanie Houtman 19:29
Tory Earle 19:42
Samantha Randle 19:52
Carli Antonopoulos 19:58
Sash Corris 19:59
Callan Lotter 19:59
Amica de Jager 20:00
Michelle Weber 20:03
Men’s elite:
Connor Buck 17:39
Henré Louw 18:34
Brendan Visser 18:50
Ross Hartigan 18:50
Chad La Tourette 18:52
Joshua Ashley 18:55
Matthew Caldwell 18:55
Jeandre Kleynhans18:56
Damien Angel 19:09
Reece Zowitsky 19:11