Durban North resident defends Midmar title with dominant win
Connor Buck secured his back-to-back win at the Midmar Mile in a time of 17 minutes and 39 seconds.
DURBAN North resident Connor Buck claimed a second straight men’s title at the 50th edition of the aQuellé Midmar Mile on Sunday.
Buck, a member of Action Swim Academy, finished in a time of 17 minutes and 39 seconds (00:17:39) just seconds off the record while Henré Louw finished in second, and Brendan Visser took third in a sprint finish ahead of Ross Hartigan.
“My sighting wasn’t very good. I’m a little colour blind, so trying to see the orange buoys against the grass doesn’t really work. I had to just try to look for the white tent at the finish the whole time. Coming into the race, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. You never know what’s happening with the currents and conditions on the day. I was just aiming to swim as fast as I possibly could and hope for the best, so it feels good.”
In the women’s race, World 10km Champion Sharon van Rouwendaal lived up to her billing as the pre-race favourite to claim the women’s title.
The Netherlands’ Van Rouwendaal, who was visiting South Africa for the first time, to take part in the world’s largest open-water swimming event, dominated the women’s race from the start. While she had four-time champion Ashley Twichell of the USA on her feet for much of the race, Van Rouwendaal had plenty in the tank to take the win in 18 minutes 40 seconds.
“I was already challenged in the first 100 or 200m, so I thought I need to get out of here and find the position in front and then just control whether people were trying to pass or not,” said Van Rouwendaal, who claimed Olympic Marathon Swimming gold in 2016 and silver in 2021.
“Then I think around halfway, I turned on my back, and I saw there was only one person [close by], and I saw it was Ashley so I knew I had to be careful. When I saw the finish, I thought I’d build it up a little bit to get the win.”
Meanwhile, thousands more recreational swimmers made their way across the famous KwaZulu-Natal dam on Sunday. Among them was former Bafana Bafana soccer star Mark Fish, who completed his sixth aQuellé Midmar Mile.
“It’s not only the scenery but it’s the different cultures, the different shapes and sizes of people that are swimming, I think, that makes this a fantastic event. Well done to everyone. I can’t wait to be back next year,” said the 1996 African Cup of Nations champion.
Fish was swimming with his 12-year-old daughter, Isabella.
“Today was a bit tougher than last year, but I was very fortunate to rope in my daughter,” he said. “Today, she was the one swimming in front of me so she was the one to pull me through.”
Also at the finish and swimming a ceremonial final few metres of the race was the 90-year-old founder of the event, Mike “Buthie” Arbuthnot.
For full results, visit www.midmarmile.co.za.
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