Salt Rock’s super swimmer Mike Pengelly (77) completed a record-extending 51st Midmar Mile at the weekend, despite cracking three ribs the week before.
Midmar Mike remains in sole possession of the record for the most Miles completed, having crossed the finish line of every single edition of the event since it was first held in 1974.
Ballito’s Sven van der Linde was the top finishing North Coaster, claiming a blistering bronze medal in the overall competition.
Photo: Action Photo SA.
But it was Pengelly who bettered his own record once again, etching his name ever deeper into the history books of the world’s largest open water race.
“It went well, all things considered,” said Pengelly.
“It was pretty windy and there was a lot of chop, so it was a quite a hard swim. But obviously I am glad to have another one under the belt.”
Pengelly’s time of 59:28 was his slowest ever finish, but nevertheless remarkable given his injury the week before.
“I was playing touch rugby with my grandkids and ended up taking a bit of hit that left me with three cracked ribs,” he said.
“There was never any doubt I was going to swim, I just got some strapping and a few pain killers and went out there.”
For now, Pengelly says he has no plans to put an end to his Midmar journey and will continue swimming as long as his body allows him.
Photo: Action Photo SA.
“There were two guys who swam their 50th this year and they’re quite a lot younger than me, so I need to keep them at bay as long as I can!”
At the other end of the age range was Ballito’s open water swimming star, Sven van der Linde, who is just 18.
The recent Ashton International College Ballito graduate arrived at the event on Sunday hoping to crack the top 10 in his fifth Midmar Mile.
“As we stood waiting to get in the water, the conditions weren’t looking too good and I was quite nervous about a hard swim,” said Van der Linde.
“The first 400 metres were really tough but it slowly eased up. I saw that Connor Albertyn had broken away a bit and I decided I needed to chase him down.”
Soon the two were neck-and-neck and only three seconds separated them into second and third place at the finish line, around a minute-and-a-half behind Australian winner Nick Sloman.
“I had no idea where Connor and I were sitting, so to hear them announce me as third overall was quite a surprise.”
Van der Linde will be pursuing a swimming career at the University of Pretoria this year and hopes to qualify for the junior world championships in the 5km and 10km open water categories.
Many other North Coasters crossed the finish line in both the group day on Saturday and individual races on Sunday.
Shaka’s Head’s Ubuntu Aquatics saw 14 finishers, while Curro Salt Rock had three teams completing the Mile.
The Taylor family from Ballito and Palm Lakes showed the full breadth of competitors in the water, with Michael Sr claiming his first medal aged 80 and Olivia claiming her first at 10.
“Pops decided at Christmas time that he wanted to swim the Midmar Mile so we included him in our family team. He got to swim it with both of his granddaughters, Hannah and Olivia,” said Michael Jr.
“If you want some inspiration to do something that really takes you out of your comfort zone, take a leaf out of Mike’s book!”
Twelve-year-old Grace Brauteseth from Umhlali Prep swam the Mile not once, but twice last weekend.
She participated in the family swim on Saturday, finishing in 44:47 and decided to have another go of it the next morning, improving her time to 39:48.
Umhlali Prep’s James Bouwer (10), Westbrook’s Tejhal Moopanar (12) and Ashton’s Kayden Elliott (12) were some other young finishers, while Salt Rock’s Joanna Dempsey finished fifth in her 51-60 category.
Ballito’s Nadine Habig raised R1 000 for Sithanda, a children’s charity, in her third consecutive Mile.
The full results can be found at results.finishtime.co.za.
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