Perfect conditions for 2010 Midmar Mile
Brad Morgan
5 February 2010
The Midmar Dam is 100 percent full and conditions are ideal for the 2010 edition of South Africa's Halfway Toyota Midmar Mile – the world's biggest open water swimming event.
Speaking at at a press launch for the event in Pietermaritzburg on Wednesday, race organiser Wayne Riddin said the number of entrants was ahead of last year's pace, with over 14 000 already entered and more still to come.
The 2009 event was officially recognised by Guinness World Records as having the most participants in an open water swimming event, and a framed certificate hung proudly behind Riddin as he addressed the media at the press launch, near the Dam.
Riddin hopes the record established in 2009 will be bettered in 2010. There were 13 755 finishers last year out of 15 900 starters. With more people on the starting line that mark could be improved upon.
Full-body swimming suits allowed
Because the event does not fall under world swimming's governing body, Fina, competitors will be allowed to wear full-body swimming suits. Despite that advantage, they should find it hard to challenge the records because a full dam means a further distance to swim.
In years when the dam is lower, competitors are able to stand up earlier on the slipway at the finish and run for the finishing line.
There is, however, a quality entry of world class swimmers among the title contenders and they could push one another to great things.
Defending champion Riaan Schoeman will lead the South African challenge, along with Chad Ho and Heerden Herman. In 2009, Ho became the first South African to win a World Championship medal in open water swimming when he finished third in the five-kilometre event in Rome.
International Distance Camp 2010
The trio, after receiving an invitation from the German Swimming Federation, recently returned from two weeks of training in Potsdam, near Berlin at the International Distance Camp 2010.
They trained with top swimmers from six countries, says Schoeman, and logged up to 105 kilometres a week.
The SA trio can expect tough competition from a couple of Germans: Christian Reikert and Alex Studzinski. Reichert has won the European Open Water Swimming Cup the past two years, while Studzinski, according to event organiser Riddin, one of South Africa's top swimming coaches and coach of the SA Olympic team in 2000, is the fastest man entered over 10 and 25 kilometres.
David Davies
British swimmer David Davies, although he is contesting the Midmar Mile for the first time, is expected to be right in the mix for victory.
At the Beijing Olympic Games, he won a silver medal in the 10-kilometre open water swimming. He also placed sixth in the 1 500 metres. Riddin says Davies is the fastest swimmer entered over 400 metres and 1 500 metres and the reasons are plain to see.
As a 19-year-old, he won a bronze medal in the 1 500 metres at the Athens Olympics in a very fast 14:45.95. That is the British record over the distance and he also holds the British 400 metres and 800 metres records.
Something that has been welcomed by the entrants is the holding of the Midmar Mile before the five and 10 kilometre events that were previously held the day before the main event.
Hot favourite
British star Keri-Anne Payne will be a hot favourite to win the women's title. As a four-time Midmar Mile champion, the current open water world champion and the Open Water Swimmer of the Year 2009, she has earned the tag of favourite.
Her toughest competition is likely to come from her compatriots Cassie Patten and Katy Whitfield, as well as Germany's Nadine Pastor. Patten picked up bronze at the Beijing Olympics, just behind Payne, while as far back as 2006, when Payne won the Midmar Mile for a third time, Patten placed third.
Whitfield has shown she can compete with the best. In September 2009, she beat Payne in the Great London Swim, clocking a fast 17 minutes 39.74 seconds for the mile. In the same month, Pastor got the better of Payne at the Great North Swim, with Whitfield placing second and Russia's Larisa Ilchenko third.
With SA star Melissa Corfe having retired, it is expected that local swimmers will find the foreign challenge tough to handle.
16 miles!
Terence Parkin, a superstar at the Deaflympics, who won a silver medal in the 200 metres breaststroke at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, will be swimming an astonishing 16 miles during the Midmar Mile weekend to raise funds for the deaf school at which his wife teaches.
Eight races make up the Midmar Mile – four on Saturday and four on Sunday; Parkin will swim from the finish to the start and then join each event for the return leg. His aim is to swim each mile in less than 25 minutes. It is an incredibly tough challenge, but Parkin has never been one to shy away from demanding tasks. Pledges of support for him can be made on the Midmar Mile website.
Mike Arbuthnot, one of the founders of the event in 1973, and the only man to officially swim each and every Midmar Mile, will be swimming in four events - two on Saturday and two on Sunday. They will take his tally of Midmar Miles to 70 in total. Pledges of support can be made online for Mike too.
The 8-Mile Club
Tadgh Slattery, a multiple gold medal winner at the Paralympics, will be part of the 8-mile Club, which will be raising funds for charity. Last year, the club raised over R1-million.
One of the members of the 8-Mile Club, Mervyn Bremner, should he finish his eight miles, will take his tally of swims at the Midmar Mile to 85, the most in the history of the event.
Another familiar name among the eight milers is that of Adrian Garvey, the former Springbok prop.
Idols stars in action
Jason Hartman, the co-winner of Idols 2009, and Pixie Bennett, who featured prominently on the popular show, will perform at the Midmar Mile. Bennett will be in action on the Saturday and Hartman on the Sunday. Both are locals from the closest town to the Midmar Dam, Howick.
To help spectators get a better view at the finish, two grandstands have been added, which will allow for tiered viewing of the races, which have often finished in photo finishes.
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