TWO local swimmers were among the standout performers at the recent Nandos Open Water Swim in Mauritius.

Durban North resident Mike Raubenheimer (68) and uMhlanga resident Carryl van Bassen (61) both placed first in the 3.8km swim in their age group category (60-69).

The open water swim saw competitors go from Pereybere beach to Grand Baie public beach.

Incredibly Raubenheimer finished in a time of 01:03:45 and was 33rd overall, while Van Bassen finished in 01:08:11 and was 49th overall out of 265 competitors.

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This was also Raubenheimer’s first Nandos Open Water Swim since 2018, when he last competed in Mauritius.

“When I last competed eight years ago, pre the Covid pandemic, there were no age categories. I placed 10th overall in that race and cracked just under an hour. This time around my motivation was to win. It was a great feeling swimming across the finish line as I trained hard for it. You want to compete against your peers and to go out there and have a good swim. If you want to compete and win you’ve got to put in the effort, I wasn’t going there for a holiday,” Raubenheimer explained.

“Both Carryl and I worked out a strategy at the start of the swim because the first marker buoy was actually behind three boats. We also looked at the current before heading out. We both swim almost every day and it was amazing seeing her triumph at the event which featured some stellar swimmers,”
he said.

For Van Bassen it has been a busy few months of swimming. At the beginning of the year she competed at the Open Masters Games in Abu Dhabi in the UAE, winning five medals. She then took part in the SA Masters Swimming Championship where she won three gold medals.

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There was more to celebrate for the masters swimmers as the win in Mauritius marked Van Bassen’s third win in a row in her age category at the event.

“I’m very pleased with the win. I always feel if you can get on the podium at an international race it is quite a feat. It’s not easy. We were both going there to win but you never know who is going to show up. There is so much international pedigree with the swimmers that competed and it showed on the podium. Both Mike and I set such high standards for ourselves so we are thrilled with the final results,” she said.

Next up for the duo is the Breathe World Ocean Day Swim in June before they compete in the World Masters Lifesaving Championships in Gqeberha later this year.

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