Classy field for Midmar Mile
12 January 2010
The 2010 Halfway Toyota Midmar Mile has been boosted after confirmation last week that three Olympic open water marathon swimming medallists will compete at this year's epic.
The 2009 female World Open Water Swimmer of the Year Keri-Anne Payne of Great Britain, winner of a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics and the current 10 kilometre world champion and defending Midmar Mile champion, will be joined by her compatriots David Davies and Cassie Patton, both of whom won bronze medals in Beijing.
The powerful British contingent also includes an ever-improving Katy Whitfield and the experienced Charlotte Wooliscroft, both of whom competed in the 2009 Midmar Mile. The impressive Daniel Fogg and David Carey, as well as the up-and-coming Tom Allen, complete their line up.
Lay down the challenge
The Britons, along with with the experienced German contingent of Nadine Pastor Reichert, Christian Reichert and Alexander Studzinski is sure to lay down the challenge to the local contenders who will certainly have their hands full in what promises to be a fast race.
The local challenge will be headed by defending champion Riaan Schoeman and 2009 world championship 5km bronze medalist Chad Ho. Add in the promising Jay-Cee Thompson, stalwart Jasper Venter, the ever-improving Henri Schoeman, along with Danie Marias, Frank Greef, Chris van der Sande and Tyron Venter and the men’s event certainly promises to be a scintillating affair.
Nadine Pastor Reichert proved to be a thorn in the side of champion Keri-Anne Payne in the 2009 edition of the Midmar Mile and is sure to be a major contender in the ladies’ event, while the likes of Cassie Patton, Katy Whitfield and Charlotte Wooliscroft will keep them honest.
Top South Africans
The local swimming entry will be headed by the dynamic Kathryn Meaklim and one of the most promising open water swimming athletes to emerge on the local scene for a long time, Nicol Brits.
Others to keep an eye on include the experienced Rene Warnes, Bianca Meyer, Kera Hauptfleisch and Karlien van Heerden, and the unheralded Britney Cameron, along with Jenny White, Jessica Roux, Tammy Geyer, Rebecca Newman and Caroline Edwards.
With the quality of the leading contestants, the ladies' race certainly promises to be one of the most keenly contested races in the illustrious history of the Midmar Mile.
Entries
With entries fast approaching the 16 000 'cut-off' mark there has been a surge of online entries, while the final seeding events are set to be completed by 24 January.
On 16 January, the Blue Fins swim takes place at Maselspoort, just outside of Bloemfontein. On 17 January, the Ingram's Ekurhuleni 1200 will be contested in Germiston.
The following weekend, 23 and 24 January, the final seeding event for the 2010 Midmar Mile takes place at the picturesque Heia Safari Ranch in what has been billed "Gauteng's cleanest dam", at the Heritage Water Festival.
More information and online entries are available at the Midmar Mile website.
SAinfo reporter
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