Jessica Roux remained unbeaten in open water swimming in the Eastern Cape over the weekend when she won the women’s 10 K swim and the 3 K swim at the inaugural Eastern Province Open Water Swim Champs held at Marina Martinique.
Jessica Roux on her way to victory in the gruelling 10 K swim at the EP Open Water Swim Champs
Michael Marais won the men’s 10 K event with both Roux and Marais recording South African national 10 K qualifying times. After the race Roux said the swim was tough but she was happy with her time and was looking forward to the South African National Championships that will be held in Durban in April. ‘The swim was also great preparation for the Bell Buoy swim that will take place in Port Elizabeth during the Splash Festival. There was a strong east wind blowing that caused chop but apart from that it was a great swim”, said Roux
Rebecca Newman swam her first ever 10 K swim, finishing ahead of veteran Jeffreys Bay swimmers Brenton Williams and Alfred te Water Naude, who came first and second respectively in their first marathon swims.
Chris Van Der Sande and Tammy Geyer won the 5 K swim respectively with Sanmari Woithe and Andre Kleynhans winning the masters categories.
Van Der Sande also won the 3 K swim while Jessica Roux continued to dominate the women’s 3 K event. JC van Wyk from Jeffreys Bay won the master’s category.
Dominic Greeff won the 1 K swim from Jamie-Lee Sclemmer in a tight tussle that was decided on the finish line. Jeffreys Bay swimmer Danie Ellis (11) won the under 14 division in the event from younger brother Pieter. Richden Jute and Denise Bosman were the first master’s swimmers home in their respective categories.
Tristan Zoetmulder recovers after completing the tiring bank to bank swim
Mike Zoetmulder from Zports who managed the event said he was very satisfied with the turn out for the EP Champs. “This is the first time we had had entries for the 10K, which indicates the growing commitment of marathon swimmers in the Eastern Cape. In total we had 16 entrants in the 5 K and 10 K swims, with 15 swimmers managing to finish their races”.
The full list of results can be found here
On the international front, South Africa’s leading open water swimmer Chad Ho continues to threaten the status quo when he was narrowly beaten into second place in the FINA 10 K Marathon Swimming World Cup held in Brazil. The finish was so close that officials had to rely on a photo finish to decide that Russian Evgeny Drattsev had just managed to touch ahead of Ho at the end.
(Evgeny Drattsev won the FINA 10 K World Cup in Brazil. Chad Ho of South Africa finished 2nd)
Open water swimmers in the Eastern Province have a week’s break before swimming resumes at Hobie Beach in Port Elizabeth when the Axxess DSL Ocean Racing Series takes to the water. Competitors have a choice between a 1 K and a 3 K swim.
Tags: 10 k marathon swims, Chad Ho, EP Open Water Swim Champs, Evgeny Drattsev, jeffreys bay, kouga swim club, Marina canal swims, marina martinique, Marina Martinique jeffreys bay, Open Water Swim News, swim, swim training jeffreys bay, swimming
