Posts Tagged ‘kouga swim club jeffreys bay’

Chad Ho wins Redhouse River Mile

March 4, 2010

Kouga swimmers have enjoyed a busy two weeks of galas and open water swimming with C league galas taking place in Port Elizabeth and the Redhouse River Mile which took place on Sunday.

Up and coming Jeffreys Bay swimmer Kyle De Villiers proved that he can successfully compete in open water as well as pool swimming when he followed up his victory in the 500m at the EP Open Water swim champs with a string of solid results in the C league galas.

Kyle De Villiers keeping his head still on his way to winning the backstroke at a gala in Port Elizabeth

At the first C League, Kyle was unstoppable, winning the butterfly, backstroke and freestyle races and coming second in the breastroke in his age group. At the second C league gala held on this past Saturday, Kyle yet again achieved three first places.  He trains with the Kouga Swim Club in Jeffreys Bay and together with his dad, Ivan and younger brother Aiden has a love for water.  “I want to be a Springbok swimmer one day and know I have to work hard at training to achieve my goal”, said Kyle. “I love swimming and want to win the 500m at the next Kouga Express EP Open Water Swim Series”.

There were good results from a number of the Kouga swimmers at the first C league gala with Pieter Ellis, Andre Saunders, Danie Ellis, Kim Seyfert, Clarion Prudon, Wiandre De Jager, Janel Daffue and Marco Venter all winning races. Brother and sister combination Wilmien and Lodewyk Van Biljon continue to improve as do Johan and Andre Smit. The full results of the second gala were not available at time of going to print.

Chad Ho the Springbok Open Water swimmer from Durban successfully defended his title at the 2010 Spar Redhouse River Mile on Sunday, beating off Frank Greeff and Byron Lockett. Ho finished the race in just over 13 minutes said that he went out and built a lead and make sure that he kept it throughout the race. Dominique Dryding from Cape Town won the women’s race from Micaela Barnes. Brenton Williams, the coach of the Kouga Swim Club won the men’s 41 – 50 age group while veteran Jeffreys Bay swimmer Mally Richards had a good swim and completed his 57th Redhouse River Mile. Shaun King (12 yrs) from St Francis Bay had an impressive race against the older competitors and was the top finisher from Kouga, coming 17th overall out of 378 men who completed the Mile. Caro De Jager (11 years old) from Jeffreys Bay was the top women finisher from Kouga coming 23rd overall out of 353 women finishers. Full results for the C league galas and the Redhouse River Mile can be found at here.

Open water swimmers will be gearing up for the 6th and final event of the Kouga Express EP Open Water Swim Series which will take place at Marina Martinique next Sunday. Indications are that there will be more entries in the 10 KM swim as swimmers will be testing their fitness levels in preparation for the inaugural 8 KM Bell buoy reef swim in Port Elizabeth which will form part of the Splash Festival. Swimmers can also enter the Axxess DSL Ocean racing Series this Sunday and choose between a 1 KM and a 3 KM swim.

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EASTERN PROVINCE OPEN WATER SWIM CHAMPS IN JEFFREYS BAY

January 26, 2010

The increasingly popular sport of open water swimming will receive another boost when the inaugural Eastern Province Open Water Swim Championship will be held in Jeffreys Bay on Saturday and Sunday (30/31 January).

Jeffreys Bay will host the first ever Eastern Province Open Water Swim Champs on 30 & 31 January. Marina Martinique will be the venue.

This is the first time a championship of this nature will be held in the province and swimmers from the Border region will also be in action, pitting their skills against the likes of EP open water swim queen Jessica Roux and up and coming male swimmer Chris Van der Sande. EP Aquatics , the controlling body for the sport in the Eastern Province will be supplying officials for the event which is hosted by the Kouga Swim Club and managed by Zports.

The 10 K and 5 K swims will be held on Saturday afternoon at Marina Martinique while the 3 K, 1K, 500 M, bank to bank swim and the 5 K beach run all taking place on the Sunday.

According to event organizer, Brenton Williams there are only two events left for swimmers to qualify for the South African National Championships that will be held in Durban during April. “A number of Eastern Province swimmers have already qualified for the National Champs across all the various age groups and there are some swimmers who will be entering this weekend with the purpose of swimming qualifying times, especially in the 3 K event which should ensure some fast swimming”, said Williams. “Hosting the EP Champs is a major step forward in establishing Jeffreys Bay as a world class open water swim venue and will further expose Marina Martinique as the undiscovered gem in open water swim circles”.

The accurate times recorded at Marina Martinique since 2002 when the Kouga Swim Club started hosting open water swims are one of the reasons why Jeffreys Bay is gaining a reputation as being a top class swim destination.  The canals are very safe and protected and are spectator friendly as well, which means that it would be difficult to find a better venue anywhere else in South Africa for the new aquatic sport of open water swimming, added Williams.

The full schedule of events for the EP Open Water Swim Champs can be found here : Eastern Province Open Water Swimming Championships

Entries for all the races will close ½ hour before the start of the race. Online entries are encouraged and can be completed on www.ecswim.co.za

Cold and blustery conditions greeted the committed Axxess DSL Ocean Racing Series competitors in Port Elizabeth on Sunday. The heavy chop did not deter the swimmers with Chris Van Der Sande extending his dominance of the 1 k swim while Jessica Roux remained unbeaten in the 3 K women’s event. Wayne Jones had a great swim to edge out Michael Marais in the men’s 3 K swim.

Wayne Jones won the 3 K Ocean Racing Series swim, just ahead of Michael Marais

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Kouga Express Open Water Swim Series resumes on Sunday

January 14, 2010

The 4th race in the highly popular EP Open Water Swim Series (EP OWSS) will take place on Sunday 16 January at Marina Martinique.  The first events will be the grueling 5 K swim as well as the 3 K swim which both start at 9 am, followed by the 5 K beach run which will start at 9.05am.

The beach run is set to become a popular addition to the Series and will motivate more families to enjoy a fun day together next to the pristine canals of Marina Martinique.

The 1 K swim will take place at 12 pm, and due the popular nature of the bank to bank swim at the Marina Mile, another swim for the 10 and under aspirant swimmers will also be held this Sunday.

Registrations are open on line at www.ecswim.co.za and late entries can competed on the day as well.  The event is being held in the car park near the Walskipper restaurant.

Kouga open water swimmers had a busy December with Alfred Naude, Hano Oberholzer and Kouga Swim Club coach Brenton Williams going down to Plettenberg Bay to take part in the 6 K Sabrina Love Ocean Challenge.

Robberg Beach in Plettenberg Bay was the venue of the start and pre race briefing for the 09 Sabrina Love Ocean Challenge

Brenton, Alfred and Hano represented the Kouga Swim Club at the 6 K race

The swim started at the Robberg Beach and ended at the Main Beach at the Beacon Isle.  Conditions were really good and the swim was tough but enjoyable, according to the swimmers.  Chad Ho, South Africa’s leading open water swimmer won the race from fellow Olympic swimmer Natalie Du Toit.

The beacon Isle can be seen in the distance. Swimmers had to aim for the historic Plettenberg Bay landmark on route to the Main Beach

Natalie Du Toit, the Springbok open water swimmer won the women's race at the 09 Sabrina Love Ocean Challenge

The Axxess DSL Ocean Racing Series took place on Sunday with a 1 K and a 3 K swim.  Chris van der Sande, the up and coming open water swimmer from Port Elizabeth won the 1 K, with Lauren Billson taking the honours in the women’s division. Frank Greeff won the 3 K swim while the Marina Mile winner Jessica Roux won the women’s race. Full results can be found here

Swimmers in the Eastern Cape have been pleased with the announcement that a new ocean race will be taking place on the 3 April in Port Elizabeth. The inaugural 7 K Bell Buoy Challenge will pit the skills of open water swimmers against the elements as the swim is a straight 3, 5 K out to sea course, around the bell buoy reef and back to Hobie Beach.

The Swim has only been successfully completed once before and is regarded as an extreme swim according to Brenton Williams. “The wind will play a major role as there is bound to be chop and the currents around the reef will be hectic”, he said. “What is exciting though is the level of interest in the swim which indicates that Open Water swimming is growing in popularity and is regarded internationally as one of the fastest growing extreme sports in the world. South Africa is following this trend with the Eastern Province hosting many of the better swims on offer”.

Extreme swimmers will be attemping to swim around the bell buoy on 3 April in Nelson Mandela Bay. The 7 K swim will be challenging due to the swirling currents around the reef

The Kouga Swim Club has resumed training this week with squads and Learn to swim at the Training Edge Gym and open water training at the Marina Martinique.

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