Smith swims his best time at open-water champs
He placed 13th in his age group and 11th in the 5km event
THE open-water national championships were held on March 4 and 5 at the Marina Martinique near Jeffreys Bay in the Eastern Cape.
The championships were well attended by all provinces in South Africa and a large team from Namibia.
The salt water in the marina took some adjusting to. The extra buoyancy of salt water, added to the advantage of sea level altitude, usually makes the 5km swim a more competitive race for swimmers who usually train at higher altitude.
Aquatic Academy’s Nicholas Smith (ESP Kempton Park) was one of five swimmers selected by Eastern Gauteng Aquatics for both the 3km and gruelling 5km events.
The 3km was swum first on the Saturday, where Nicholas took more than six minutes off his previous best time, to finish in a time of 36 minutes 55 seconds.
As a point of reference, many Midmar swimmers do not complete that 1.5km swim within that time.
He placed 13th in his age group and 11th in the 5km event.
The EGA four-swimmer relay team scored a very close fourth place.
