Rising open water star Connor Buck finished dominating the men’s elite race, leading the cost of South Africa yesterday, while the Dutch swimmer Sharon van Rouwendaal lived up to the hype by winning the hard-fought women’s race in the 50th edition of the annual Midmar Mile. KZN Midlands.
Buck successfully defended the title he won last year, going the full distance across Midmar Dam in 17 minutes 39 seconds (17:39).
A convincing victory
The 20-year-old prospect had no trouble against a large number of local rivals, with 21-year-old Henre Louw taking second place by almost a minute in 18:34.
Brendan Visser, who is based in Durban, took third place in 18:50.
Van Rouwendaal, meanwhile, was made for it, but the 10km marathon world champion managed to secure a narrow victory.
The Dutch swimmer, a former Olympic champion in the 10km distance, finished the race at 18:40.
She held off a challenge from teenager Tayla Dowie, who finished runner-up in 18:43, beating American rival Ashley Twitchell who finished third in 18:44.
Last year’s winner, Stephanie Houtman, settled for fourth in 19:29, and two-time Olympian Michelle Weber (one of the pre-race favorites) finished 11th in a brutal open water battle in 20:03.
Evergreen Pengelly
Earlier, on the penultimate day of competition in the world’s largest open-water swim, Mike Pengelly was praised for his efforts after completing the Midmar Mile for the 50th time. The 76-year-old veteran has swum in every edition of the event.
“I got a lot of help from my Pinetown Otters water polo friends. I usually pull to the left, so I have one friend on the left and one on the right, so I actually swam very straight today for a change. I usually zigzag somewhere. so amazing,” said Pengelly.
The first disabled swimmer to reach the finish was two-time Paralympian Alani Ferreira, who clocked a personal best time of 23:09 for victory in the visually impaired category, along with training partner and guide Emily Martens.