Sixth Midmar title for Ho

WESTVILLE swimming ace, Chad Ho, and British speedster, Keri-Anne Payne, were crowned the king and queen of the aQuellé Midmar Mile open water swim after they won the event on Sunday.

Racing in ideal, fast conditions, Ho romped to a record sixth successive title, smashing the race record in the process and finishing 12 seconds ahead of Matthew Meyer, with Danie Marais securing the last place on the men's podium ahead of Jordan le Clos, the younger brother of Olympic and World Champion, Chad le Clos.

Despite losing his goggles at the start Ho produced a majestic performance when he reigned in the leading pack, which saw the promising Mathew Meyer claim the first 'hotspot' at 400m slightly ahead of a determined Ho and a persistent Danie Marais.

Going into the second 'hotspot' Ho had started to take control of the race and threw down the challenge to the contenders, who were determined not to lose him and continued to draft off him.

At the 1 200m mark both Meyer and Marais surged, but Ho showed his experience and responded like a true champion, maintaining his composure and lifting his game to claim the third 'hotspot' – the race was on.

As they approached the finish line the athletes were edged on by a vocal crowd, and with 100m to go it was anyone’s race.

It was at this point that Ho extended his lead, and as they exited the water he held the edge, crossing the finish line in a time of 17:04 and slashing a massive nine seconds off the Polish ace Prezmek Stanzcyk's record effort of 17:13 in 2004.

“Winning Midmar once is an honour, so to have six wins now is incredible. I’m very happy. I knew it would be a tough race and the record was never in my mind, so that in itself is a bonus,” said a delighted Ho after the event.

In the women's race Payne extended her record of the most wins in the female division to eight, and in the process denied American, Ashley Twichell, her hat-trick of wins. Fellow American, Stephanie Peacock, was third, and the first local woman home was Michelle Webber in fifth, just behind British swimmer, Holly Hibbott.

“The hard work is paying off. What a great start to the year,” said an elated Payne after her race.