MIDMAR LEGENDS
G
Bristow Keeps Women’s Legacy Alive
ail Bristow was just 14 years old when she
lined up with some 150 other swimmers for
her first aQuellé Midmar Mile. However, there
was no medal waiting for her when she reached the
other side of the dam, because it was 1974, and
women weren’t officially allowed to enter the race.
Plenty has changed since then, with over 12,000
swimmers set to line up for the 2020 edition of what’s
grown into the world’s largest open water swimming
event. Now 60, Bristow will still be one of them,
though, as she competes for a 46th official and 47th
unofficial year.
“I started the very first one in 1974. The girls weren’t
allowed to swim, so a handful of us went along with
our brothers and friends and we lined up at the start,
but we didn’t get a medal,” she recalled. “Can you
imagine anything more ridiculous? The girls were
all unofficial, just as they were at the Comrades
Marathon and all those events back then.”
That all changed a year later, after an uproar from
the country’s female swimmers. “So we lined up with
our mates and swam it and that’s how it’s been ever
since. I think part of the fun is that a lot of those same
people – although they might not have made it every
year – are still doing it, so I see a lot of my friends
that I swam with as a teenager every year. It’s a really
social event now. I’m not as competitive as I was. It’s
all about the camaraderie and it’s a great event.”
Always in the Pool
Swimming has always played an important part in
Bristow’s life. “I grew up in KwaZulu-Natal and we
used to swim at the Pinetown pool. My brother and all
my friends swam, so I just kind of got into it like that,
and we spent all our holidays at the pool. It’s what
we did, and it’s what I’ve always done,” explains the
recently retired teacher, who taught PE at St Mary’s in
Kloof and then geography at Wynberg Girls’ High in
Cape Town.
Bristow represented both Natal and South Africa in
the pool back in the day, although it was during the
period of international isolation. She’s also claimed
podium places in various age categories at the
aQuellé Midmar Mile, and still competes in the pool
at Masters level. “We have quite a strong Masters
team that travels all over to compete at World
Championships, so I do still swim competitively, even
though I turned 60 last year. It’s a lot of fun, it gives
you some motivation, otherwise it’s easy just to get
lazy. I think I have three world titles and our Cape
Town team has six world relay records, so we are very
competitive in that group, which is nice, because we
grew up when we couldn’t compete internationally.”
“The main thing for me is that on the second Sunday in
February, I’ve been at Midmar for the last 47 years. It’s
now a case of getting there. I always think the car might
break down, or the flight could be delayed. There’s
always that possibility, so I feel very grateful that I’ve
been able to make it every year. It’s just something I’ve
added onto my calendar every year, which became a bit
more challenging when I moved to Cape Town.”
No Stopping Her!
Over the years she’s faced storms and choppy water,
and had to wait for mist to lift to be able to make it
across the dam, but Bristow’s most challenging race
was last year, when she competed just a couple of
months after undergoing a knee replacement. “That
was the only one I didn’t feel very confident of and
wasn’t sure what was going to happen without the
usual training, so I entered in the family race, not the
main race, and my son and husband swam with me. I
still managed it, but I was anxious about it,” she says.
“It’s a great event and it’s something I’ll try and keep
doing for as long as I can do it,” concludes the only
woman to have been there every year since 1974.
13