The annual Ebenezer Mile took place on Saturday, hosted by the Rotary Club of Haenertsburg.
Much like the Tuffy Marathon the previous week, the weather wasn’t necessarily on the athletes’ sides but nonetheless, the swimmers powered through the initial race delays and the misty and chilly weather to compete fiercely in the unforgiving open water swim events.
A great turnout was seen, with 376 competitors of all ages joining the event.
Five events took place throughout the day.
Read: The 25th Ebenezer Mile a huge success
The first event was for female entrants and split into two categories; 13 years and younger and 31 years and older.
The event was postponed on a few occasions due to blankets of mist that enveloped the swim route in waves.
As one blanket would clear, the word was given for the race to begin, all women would enter the water only for another wave of mist to swoop in and postpone the event again.
Despite the teasing weather conditions, the ladies finally took to the water an hour or so behind schedule and the 2018 Ebenezer Mile had officially begun!
For the under 13’s the top three competitors were as follows: Jordyn Botha 1st, Jenny Zhang 2nd and Amelia Booth 3rd.
Meanwhile, for the over 31 years entrants, the top three in order were Joanna van der Merwe, Lesley Schultz and Jo Truesdale.
From there on in, the foggy veil lifted and the rest of the day went without a glitch.
Event two, for male entrants 13 years and younger and 31 years and older was next.
The winners in the boys under 13 group were; Jason Bosman 1st, Armand Burger van Vuuren 2nd and Heinrich Meiring 3rd whilst for the men over 31, the winners in order were; Francois le Roux, Andrew Parkin and Pierre Bassani.
Next up was event three, for female entrants 14 to 30 years and male entrants 14 to 30 years.
Arguably the main event of the day, the competition was fierce and the battle was on.
Incredibly, the first male swimmer over the line, Ockert Vermeulen, came in with a time of 20 minutes and 45 seconds, leading by over a minute and a half in front of his second placed competitor, Bernard Mentz.
Third place for the men went to Merensky’s Daniel Smit.
For the women, the winner, Anel de Vos, also came in over a minute and a half before the second placed female challenger, Ashleigh Megan Hunter.
Astonishingly, Anel was actually the second competitor to finish in the entire race, beating the second placed male competitor by almost thirty seconds.
Third place for the women went to Adri Venter.
Event four was not for the feint of heart, a gruelling 3000m swim.
A swimmer catches a breath.
This event attracted an international entrant. Karen Sternberg came all the way from California in the USA to swim the Ebenezer Mile this year. She finished in a time of 1:12:44.
The male winner of the 3000m open swim was Ockert Vermeulen, followed by Bernard Mentz and Michael Crossey.
The female winner Anel de Vos was followed in by Joanna van der Merwe and then Tanya Strydom.
The final race of the day was the 500m fun swim and was enjoyed greatly by lots of little competitors – the future Ebenezer winners!
The day’s festivities would not have been possible without the sponsors.
The main sponsors of the event were: Smit & Kie Brokers; Smit & Kie Supporting Brokers; Willie Kruger, Louis Naude, Retief Jacobs, Andre Roelofse, Francois du Toit, Lynette Faber, Gericke du Plessis, Stuart Miller and Maurice Stander; Landrover/MGM Motors; ClemenGold; ANB Investments; du Roi; CallSave; Steven’s Lumber Mills; Kirk Group; Energade; The Fruit Farm Group; The Door Group; MC Brokers; NTK Tzaneen; CTM; Matumi Sawmills; Dr. Ryszard Gorbaszewicz; Haenertsburg Hardware; Pot `n Plow; Tzaneen Midas; Magoebaskloof Canopy Tours; Westfalia; Lepelle Northern Water and Rodney Cooper Estates.
Results:
Boys U/13 Jason Bosman 1st 26:15
Boys U/13 Armand Burger van Vuuren 2nd 29:27
Boys U/13 Heinrich Meiring 3rd 29:47
Men 31+ Francois le Roux 1st 25:01
Men 31+ Andrew Parkin 2nd 26:08
Men 31+ Pierre Bassani 3rd 26:27
Girls U/13 Jordyn Botha 1st 26:24
Girls U/13 Jenny Zhang 2nd 28:10
Girls U/13 Amelia Booth 3rd 28:13
Ladies 31+ Joanna van der Merwe 1st 26:35
Ladies 31+ Lesley Schultz 2nd 31:35
Ladies 31+ Jo Truesdale 3rd 31:38
Males 14 – 30 Ockert Vermeulen 1st 20:45
Males 14 – 30 Bernard Mentz 2nd 22:24
Males 14 – 30 Daniel Smit 3rd 24:00
Females 14 – 30 Anel de Vos 1st 21:56
Females 14 – 30 Ashleigh Megan Hunter 2nd 22:32
Females 14 – 30 Adri Venter 3rd 26:12
3000m
Males Open Ockert Vermeulen 1st 41:14
Males Open Bernard Mentz 2nd 45:49
Males Open Michael Crossey 3rd 49:34
Females Open Anel de Vos 1st 45:47
Females Open Joanna van der Merwe 2nd 52:44
Females Open Tanya Strydom 3rd 56:04
