Tag Archives: Open Water Swim

Bridge House Mile 2012

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On Sunday, 4 November 2012, we headed out to Franschhoek for the inaugural Bridge House Mile Open Water Swim. The swim was held on the beautiful and picturesque Berg River Dam situated on the outskirts of Franschhoek. This was the first time the Berg River Dam has been used for an open water swim.

There was an early morning chill in the air, low-lying cloud cover and 17 degree C water. There were a few preliminary swimming races leading up to the One Mile main event at 09h30. These included a 200m and 400m swim for all ages. The One Mile race was seperated into a Wetsuit Category and a Non-Wetsuit main event.

Wetsuit Swim Underway

Wetsuit Swim Underway

The wetsuit Swim got the One Mile proceedings underway. A few big names opted to race in the neoprene category. Kate Roberts, just back from the London Olympics for Triathlon, as well as Achmat Hassiem, also just back from London and the Paralympics. The two of them lead from start to finish, with Kate taking the overall honours in the Wetsuit race in a time of 18minutes and 39 Seconds.

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Arena Carbon Pro: Olympic Dream Come True

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We just witnessed a phenominal London Olympic Games and saw some superb performances. Arena made an astonishing showing in the pool and open water swimming events at these games, see below Press Release from Arena International. I feel extremely privelaged to be associated with a brand like this!

Arena Powerskin Carbon Pro

Arena Powerskin Carbon Pro

“Arena enjoys triumphant 35‐medal Olympics as Powerskin Carbon Pro shines.

Tolentino, 1 September 2012 – Global waterwear brand Arena returned one of its most successful Olympics in the company’s history as the three diamonds appeared on the pool and open water podiums 35 times in London this past July and August. Between them, swimmers wearing the new company’s swimsuits ‐ the Powerskin Carbon Pro – won 10 gold, 14 silver, and 11 bronze medals. Continue reading →

World Masters Swimming Championships 2012: Open Water

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My entire focus for World Masters Swimming Championships 2012 has been the 3km Open Water swim. About a year and a half ago when my wife and I decided that we would try and go to Riccione for World Champs, I sat down with my coach, Brendon, and we started planning the route towards Riccione 2012.

We set interim goals along the way, which included Western Province and South African Championships plus some other competitions. We used these races as to judge my progress and alter training schedules based on my results. Every event gave us valuable feedback on my training and thankfully my improvement was an upward trend. Overall, the last year has gone really well and to be swimming faster now than I did when I was swimming full-time as a 18 year old is great. The continual balancing act between working a full time job, being married with a small baby at home and trying to squeeze every last minute of training in between has proved to be extremely tough but doable, maximising every valuable minute of my day.

So, after more than a years focus and after a great week of World Masters Swimming Championships: pool racing in Riccione, Italy, it was finally time for the open water swim. The open water competition took place on Saturday, 16 June 2012. I was taking part in the 25 to 29 year age group which was set to start at 12h45. Luckily for me, I had no pool events on the Friday preceding the race. It allowed me the opportunity to head down to the beach and swim the course.

Warm-Up Swim

Warm-Up Swim

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One Mile Open Water Swimming Series #1

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The One Mile Open Water Swimming Series is a new concept started by the guys from Big Bay events. Derrick Fraser and his team host a number of cold Open Water Swims in Blouberg. They have introduced the One Mile cold open water swim series to run in conjunction with their current swims, which are generally long and challenging, to offer something for the individuals who would like something a little shorter and more manageable in the Cold Atlantic Ocean. The cold water often intimidates swimmers and this great initiative offers a distance that is far enough to test one’s ability, but short enough to be enjoyable. The potential to suffer from hypothermia is also reduced, and is not as drastic on the swimmers as what they are in the longer events.

This first event in the series was run alongside the 10.3km Lighthouse swim, from Milnerton Lighthouse to Big Bay, Blouberg. I would under normal circumstances have swum the Lighthouse Swim but with it being only 3 weeks before World Masters Swimming Championships in Italy, I decided to forgo the temptation and rather swim the shorter race. The reason being that swimming a 10km race in 12°C water would cause major muscle fatigue and I couldn’t afford that so close to World Champs.

Duncan and I

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