Members of the Carletonville Swimming Club took part in various races during the past few weeks.
On Sunday, 15 January, a number of swimmers took part in the Ebotse Mile, organised by Swim4Life. This event was held at the East Rand Speedboat Club (ERSC), at Rynfield Dam, for the first time in a few years.
The event was the East Rand’s seeding event for this year’s Midmar Mile, the world’s largest open water swim, which takes place on February 11 and 12.
‘It is such a wonderful facility and is actually one of the best venues for open water swimming. That is what it’s made for according to race organisers. We can start deep and finish deep, and swimmers don’t have to run to get into the water. Spectators can see what is happening as the participants swim right in front of them,’ the club’s spokesperson, Annalisa Freese, told the Herald.
Freese was the only swimmer to complete the first event of the day, the 3 000 m swim. She finished in a time of 1:05:59. She also came tenth out of 35 swimmers in her category during the second event of the day, the 1.65 km swim. Another member of the club, Bianca Janeke, came third out of 12 swimmers in her category when she
finished in a time of 33:51 min.
‘It was an extremely hard race and we felt like we were swimming a lot of upstream. The organisers told me, afterwards, that if you do not know the dam, you will find it very difficult.
Open water swimming is a fantastic sport as it is casual and family orientated
but still highly competitive. At the end of the day, we did it and it was not only a great achievement but excellent training,’ Freese told the Herald.
Various club members also took part in the Lake Heritage Water Festival that was held at the Cradle Moon Lakeside Lodge (formerly known as Heia Safari Ranch) during the past weekend. By mid-morning, cloudy skies had given way to glorious sunshine and it was a great day for a swim,’ Freese said of the event. The Saturday
event was only for the 3 km and 5 km swimmers. ‘It was also our last 3 km qualifier for the Midmar Mile,’ she added.
Several club members completed the 3 km and did exceptionally well. Their times were as follows: Annalisa Freese (1:04:23 min), Carsten Holfelder (1:16:27 min), Sharlene van Niekerk (1:07:02 min) and Tammy van Niekerk (1:00:37 min).