All the Midmar magic
IT WAS yet another successful Midmar Mile event, said race convener Wayne Riddin yesterday as about 12 000 swimmers took to the water at the weekend.
Riddin said the weather was a major contributing factor. “It was a really great day,” he said.
The number of swimmers increased this year in comparison to the 2016 figure of about 11 500, and Riddin was optimistic the number would increase again next year.
He said the 600 staff and support staff as well as the lifeguards and the South African Navy added to the success of the world’s biggest open water swimming race.
It was not only organisers who were left smiling; swimmers also recorded personal achievements. Born without arms and legs, Craig Dietz, an American motivational speaker and avid sportsman, swam to raise funds for the Pink Drive, a Cancer awareness organisation that provides free mammograms and pap smears to poor communities.
The Daily News featured Dietz last week. He has been participating in the race since 2013.
“My catchphrase is to define your own potential as a person, to not allow your circumstances to define who you are,” Dietz said.
There were other winners too. This year provided an upset as seven-time race winner Chad Ho was beaten by young upstart Matthew Meyer, who won the race in a time of 18:13, beating Ho by five seconds.
In the women’s race, it was Ashley Twichell, in 19:24, who took top honours.