LIMPOPO – Hundreds of professional and amateur swimmers flocked to the Ebenezer Dam to be part of Limpopo’s biggest annual open water swim on Saturday.

This year marked the 33rd Ebenezer Mile and as usual, catered for the whole family.

The usually typical misty weather made way for clear skies, ensuring clear vision for swimmers at all times. Lifesavers were ready on the water as well as onshore to assist in case of an emergency.

The event consists of five races: three one mile races, a 3 000m race, and a 500m fun swim. The first race started at 11:00 and consisted of women swimmers 13 years and younger, and 31 years and older participating in the mile (1.6km). Leah Stewart and Inge Coetzee claimed victory in the respective categories after being in the water for just more than 26 minutes.

Daniel de Waal and Kuno Venter ruled the men’s event for the same categories. Both finished the race in under 26 minutes.

The Ebenezer Mile is one of The Rotary Club of Haenertsburg’s biggest fundraising events.

The first big swim was hosted in 1992 with only 60 swimmers and now sees entries of well over 600 with 2 000 spectators.

According to the swim director, Peter Stuart-Thompson they had 369 swimmers, which is the highest in recent years, especially after the Covid-19 period.

“It was a lot of fun, we had good music and food, and the swimmers seemed to have enjoyed the event.”

What makes Ebenezer Mile different from other open water swims, Stuart-Thompson says: “We have clean water. We heard of incidents at other open water swims where swimmer get sick because of bad water quality.”

He said the highlight of the day was a 70-year-old swimmer who swam four of the races back-to-back, totalling 7.8km. “That is incredible. Smith & Kie Brokers has been the main sponsor for many years and their contribution to the day needs to be mentioned, we look forward to next year’s event.”

Mile

Women
13 years and under
1. Leah Stewart (26:16).
2. Charlotte Tucker (31:09).
3. Ayla Alida Bornman (34:33).

14 to 30 years
1. Anke Vaughn (34:47).
2. Corne Anderson (35:36).
3. Arinda Coetzee (46:13).

31 years and older
1. Inge Coetzee (26:28).
2. Nastachia le Roux (30:06).
3. Andri Luus (30:23).

Men
13 years and under
1. Daniel de Waal (25:43).
2. Illa Papasopoulus (25:52).
3. Ulrich Engelbrecht (26:18).

14 to 30 years
1. Aiden Robinson Kok (33:05).
2. Ian van Brouwershaven (36:03).

31 years and older
1. Kuno Venter (24:42).
2. Timothy Varrie (24:59).
3. Riccardo Caldeira (25:09).

3000m

Women
1. Jean-Marie Swartz (48:45).
2. Lerize du Toit (50:51).
3. Lesley Primmer (51:12).

Men
1. Jurie Wynand Fourie van Wyk (43:25).
2. Oliver Oberholzer (49:27).
3. Dylan Kamstra (52:47).