Ebenezer Mile celebrates 31 years

■ Roelof de Jonge

The popular annual open water swimming event, the Ebenezer Mile at Ebenezer Dam near Haenertsburg, was held for the 31st year on Saturday the 11th of March.

The first of the five races was for female swimmers aged under the age of 14 and 31 years and older. Pia Stewart set the pace for her rivals to follow and was the first to complete the one-mile course, claiming the category win for women 31 years and older. Her winning time was 23 minutes and 44 seconds.

The U/14 contender, Rozaan Korff, took a fine second place overall and the category win in a time of 25 minutes and 46 seconds. A total of 48 female swimmers completed the one mile race.

Gary Albertyn, swimming in the 31 years and older age group, was the first of the 57 finishers in the Open Mile race for male swimmers U/14 and 31 years and older. It took Albertyn precisely 22 minutes to blitz through the course. The second place went to Kuno Venter in a time of 24 minutes and 34 seconds. He was followed by Leon Roode who finished in 26 minutes and 2 seconds.

The Open Mile crown for swimmers 14 years to the age of 30 belonged to Connor Albertyn. His time of 20 minutes and 53 seconds was the fasted finish time for the day. The first female swimmer to reach the end was Jean-Marie Swartz in 23 minutes and 50 seconds to claim second place overall.

settled for the third place overall, posting a time of 23 minutes and 58 seconds.

One of the mainstay events on the program is the challenging 3 000m race for more advanced and fitter swimmers. The winner this year was Dylan Kamstra. It took him 49 minutes and 53 seconds to win ahead of his rivals.

The second and third steps on the podium were respectively occupied by female swimmers, Caroline Koll and Danté Botha. Koll’s finish time was 50 minutes and 54 seconds and Botha recorded a time of 51 minutes and one second for her third place.

The 500 meter event concluded the pro a time of 11 minutes and eight seconds was Leah Stewart followed by Hendré Venter, who was the first male participant to finish this event. Venter’s time was 11 minutes and 45 seconds.