CHAD Ho and British speedster Keri-Anne Payne enthroned themselves as the King and Queen of the aQuellé Midmar Mile open water swim with emphatic victories on Sunday.
Racing in ideal, fast conditions, Ho romped to a record sixth successive title, smashing the race record in the process, finishing 12 seconds ahead of Mark Meyer, with Danie Marais securing the last place on the men’s podium, ahead of Jordan le Clos, the younger brother Olympic and World Champion Chad le Clos.
Despite losing his goggles at the start, Ho produced a majestic performance when he reigned in the leading pack which saw the promising Mathew Meyer claim the first “hotspot” at 400m slightly ahead of a determined Ho and a persistent Danie Marais.
“Winning Midmar once is an honour so to have six wins now is incredible. I’m very happy.” said a delighted Ho after the event. “I knew it would be a tough race and the record was never in my mind so that in itself is a bonus.”
In the women’s race, Payne extended her record of the most wins in the female division to eight, and in the process denied American Ashley Twichell her hat-trick of wins. Fellow American Stephanie Peacock was third, The first local woman home was Michelle Webber in fifth, just behind British swimmer Holly Hibbott.
She finished a full thirty seconds ahead of Twichell, and despite the ideal conditions she fell a tantalising two seconds short of her own race record.
“The hard work is paying off,” said an elated Payne after her race. “What a great start to the year.”
Results (Men)
1 Chad Ho 00:17:04
2 Matthew Mark Meyer 00:17:16
3 Danie Marias 00:17:21
4 Jordan Le Clos 00:18:10
5 Chris Mcglynn 00:18:11
Results (Women)
1 Keri-Anne Payne 00:17:35
2 Ashley Twichell 00:18:05
3 Stephanie Peacock 00:18:06
4 Holly Hibbott 00:18:10
5 Michelle Weber 00:18:12
