FEATURE
The 50 th aQuellé Midmar Mile sees a World Champion Competing !
The 50th anniversary of the aQuellé Midmar Mile received a massive boost with the confirmation that open water world champion Sharon van Rouwendaal will be competing in the women ’ s race .
The Dutch star is the current world champion over 10km after claiming the open water title in Budapest last year and is also a former Olympic champion – having taken gold at the Rio Games in 2016 . She followed that up with silver in Tokyo in 2021 .
First Midmar Mile !
Sharon is relishing the prospect of a first trip to South Africa and is eager to see what she can achieve over the shorter 1.6km distance across Midmar Dam in KwaZulu-Natal . “ I haven ’ t been in South Africa before but I ’ ve heard about the Midmar Mile a lot because I saw all these big athletes going there every year ,” said the 29-year-old .
“ It ’ s super-famous and it ’ s also known as one of the biggest events with the most people participating . I ’ m looking forward to meeting new people and trying to motivate or help all the people there . I hope I can inspire them and have a positive vibe and enjoy the beautiful atmosphere .”
Getting Race Ready
Sharon was in Pretoria for 10 days of highaltitude training before traveling to Midmar , but there ’ s also one other thing on her to-do list during her time in South Africa . “ The biggest thing I want to do while I ’ m in South Africa is to go on a safari and see the real-life animals somewhere .”
As for competing in the aQuellé Midmar Mile for the first time , the Dutch star isn ’ t entirely sure what to expect , particularly over the shorter distance of 1.6km compared to her usual 10km . “ I don ’ t know who is participating in the event so I ’ m not super-confident about winning but of course you want to win it when you come over . I will give my 100 per cent and try to win it but I think the main thing is to have a good time with everybody and enjoy the moment .
“ I feel good about swimming just 1.6km . It ’ s going to be a really fast race from the beginning on , I think . Normally when we do a 10km we try to build it up and pace it until the end . But not with 1.6km – you ’ re probably going to start at a high pace and keep it up until the end .”
Defending aQuellé Midmar Mile women ’ s champion Stephanie Houtman is looking forward to being put to the test against an icon of open water swimming . “ I have always admired Sharon because she ’ s such a professional and consistent performer at the highest level ,” said Stephanie .
“ So I think it would be such a privilege to be able to swim in the same race as her ,” added the Pretoria swimmer , who claimed her first Midmar title last year , winning in a time of 19 minutes 37 seconds .
A World Elite Race Line-up
For the first time , the winners of the Walmart OZ Mile Swim in Arkansas , USA will travel to South Africa to compete in the aQuellé Midmar Mile while , as part of the reciprocal agreement , this year ’ s Midmar winners will travel to compete in the next Walmart OZ Mile later in the year . That means Catherine Breed and Chad La Tourette will be lining up on the start in KwaZulu-Natal next month . Both swimmers have represented the USA in swimming .
Meanwhile , also providing some tough international competition to the men ’ s field are two UK swimmers , who were regulars at the event before the Covid pandemic , Ashley Hogg and Bailey Hairsine . Both have finished in the top 10 on several occasions – and Hogg as high as second in 2019 – so will be looking for podium performances once again this year .
Also in the mix are a team of Slovakian swimmers including national 5km champion in 2021 Tomáš Peciar and fellow national team members Samuel Čekan , Krisztián Gálik and Daniel van Wyk . With them will be Tomáš Vachan – head open water coach of the Slovak national team .
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