Marina Mile 2007

Woodlands Dairy Our Times Marina Mile a huge success

Over 200 swimmers took to the water in the canals at Marina Martinique for the 2007 Woodlands Dairy Our Times Marina Mile on Saturday. A warm,  windless and sunny day greeted swimmers and spectators alike at the Marina Village, from where the gruelling 3km swim started at 8am. Event organiser and Kouga swim Club coach; Brenton Williams said that the turn out at the mile was fantastic. “The perfect conditions ensured that we were going to have fast swims and it was wonderful to see families enjoying themselves on the banks and supporting the swimmers. There were around 500 spectators and I would like to thank the parents of the Kouga Swim Club who worked really hard providing refreshments for the swimmers and spectators”.

The 3km swim was fast, with eventual winner Jessica Roux winning in a time of 41 minutes. The race was close with the top five swimmers all finishing under 42 minutes. Michael Marais was the first man home after he won a tight duel with Aaron Myburg. 2005 Marina Mile winner, Stephanie Bakhuis was the second women to cross the finish line. With a quad bike up for grabs, courtesy of Marina Village, there was huge interest in this year’s 100m bank to bank swim. This event caters for the little swimmers and to give them a taste of what open water swimming is all about. Mark Boshoff won the race from Thwanè Fouchè, a visiting swimmer from Botswana. Afterwards Arnold Vermaak from Jeffreys Bay became the proud new owner of the quad bike. Arnold and his family were involved in a bad car accident a day before the Marina Mile but Arnold was determined to swim and winning the quad bike was just reward for the 7 year old swimmer. The action started hotting up as the big guns started drifting into the Marina Village to watch the 500m swim. Pre event favourites David Marais and Velia Janse van Rensburg both obtained their race numbers and settled in to watch the next generation of open water swimmers enter the water. There was added excitement as Byron Lockett, the 2006 Marina Mile winner made a low key arrival and did a late entry for the Mile. Lockett explained that he had his tonsils removed earlier in the week but felt strong enough to try and defend his title. Marne Erasmus led from start to finish in the 500m swim, with James Myburg finishing in second position. Then it was time for the women’s mile. Velia Janse van Rensburg, the Springbok open water swimmer and defending champion decided to stamp her authority on the race right from the start. At the hooter, she started fast and after 300m had built up a formidable lead, which she held until the finish to post back to back wins in the Marina Mile to claim R 1500 and a LCD television. Jessica Roux swam a brave race to finish second but may have been a bit tired after winning the 3km swim earlier in the day. Carmel Billson finished in third position.

An extremely strong field ensured a spectacular 2007 men’s mile. Employing the same tactics as Velia Janse van Rensburg, David Marais took an early lead and set a fast pace. At the 400m mark, he had built a slight lead, but was closely followed by Byron Lockett, Matthew van Der Berg and Chris Van Der Sande. Lockett then made his move but Marais increased the pace and fought him off. Matthew van Der Berg, the 2004 Marina Mile winner then had a look at trying to take the lead, but again Marais picked up the pace, even though they were already swimming at around 7km a hour! The last 150m ensured that the 2007 Marina Mile will go down as a great race. Chris van Der Sande made a late charge and managed to draw up close to the leader, David Marais. However Marais drew deep within himself to fend off the challenge and claim the title of King of the Marina Mile and the first prize of R 1500 and a rubber duck. After the race Marais said that he had wanted to win one of the big open water races and it had eventually happened. “I decided to set a very fast pace right from the start and make the other swimmers play catch up. Anyone of the other top guys could have won, so my tactics had to be good. Even though I was in pain every time another swimmer tried to take the lead, I swam faster. Luckily I had enough left to sprint for the finish and take the race. I want to thank Brenton Williams and the Kouga Swim Club for letting me train with them earlier in the week and helping me work out my race strategy”. Prize giving was then held and there was lots of excitement amongst the spectators as to who would win the Vuka scooter that was up for grabs. Ronald Venter from Jeffreys Bay was the eventual winner to the delight of the local community.

Marina Mile organiser Brenton Williams said the event has a huge success and thanked sponsors Woodlands Dairy for making it possible. “ The media sponsorship from Our Times worked well in advertising the event. Marina Village also helped a lot with their late sponsorship and ensured all spectators and the swimmers had better prizes than any other open water swim in South Africa. The swimmers were all impressed with their medals from Dolphin Bay Properties and nobody who won some Headhunters sun block got sunburnt”. “The Woodridge lifeguards ensured the safety of the swimmers in a professional manner and the Headhunters jet ski was on hand to assist any swimmers who got into difficulties”. Williams added that there are big plans for the 2008 Marina Mile with the aim of making the swim one of the top open water swims in the country.