Grahamstown swimmers, Martin Wolmarans and Shaelyn Walker finished 14th and 16th respectively in the men’s and women’s 3km open water swimming at Marina Martinique on Sunday 5 February.
Martin finished the Nelson Mandela Bay Aquatics (NMBA) 3km Championship race in 43 minutes 45 second, while Shaelyn finished in 45:12.
Grahamstown swimmers, Martin Wolmarans and Shaelyn Walker finished 14th and 16th respectively in the men’s and women’s 3km open water swimming at Marina Martinique on Sunday 5 February.
Martin finished the Nelson Mandela Bay Aquatics (NMBA) 3km Championship race in 43 minutes 45 second, while Shaelyn finished in 45:12.
Shaelyn finished in first position in the 12-13 year age group in a time of 45 minutes 12 and Martin shaved two and a half minutes off his previous best 3km time, finishing 4th in the 14 year old category in a time of 43.45. According to their coach, Sheena Price, this puts them both in strong contention to be considered for the Eastern Province team to swim in the SA Nationals Open water Championships early next month.
The Provincial team for next month's South African Open Water Swimming Championships will be announced shortly, and the two Grahamstown swimmers will be waiting to see if they made the team.
Pearson High School head boy, Ian Venter won both the Nelson Mandela Bay Aquatics (NMBA) 5km and 3km Championship races. The Aquabear swimmer won the Provincial 5km open water swim on Saturday afternoon in blustery conditions in 1hr and 49 seconds just under 2 minutes ahead of Nicolas Adam with Slater Black finishing 3rd whilst St Francis Bay Liquid Lines swimmer Amica de Jager, from Woodridge High School, won the ladies NMBA title in 1hr 2min and 55 seconds ahead of Tayla Botha and Jessica Canter. Three visitors from the Western Cape also swam the 5km swim with Nicolaos Manoussakis finishing in a very fast 58 minutes and 6 seconds and SA Marathon Champion Michelle Weber finishing in 1hr 14 minutes and 56 seconds. Local well known personality Stanford Slabbert won the disabled category in 1 hour 34 minutes and 48 seconds.
Both visitors dominated Sunday's 10km marathon swim with Manoussakis finishing in 2 hours and 2 seconds and Webber in 2hrs 11 minutes. Liquid Lines owner, Haydn Homes, won the NMBA 10km Championship Men's title in 2hrs 23 minutes ahead of Kevin Richards (2hrs 25min 30sec) whilst De Jager won the ladies title in 2hrs 15min and 57 seconds to become Nelson Mandela Bay Aquatics only qualifier for the 10km swim in the upcoming SA Championships. Nina Petra Bodisch claimed the women’s silver medal for the marathon swim in a time of 3 hours 36 minutes and 15 seconds.
In the much anticipated and competitive Provincial 3km open water swim, Venter won in a time of 36 minutes and 33 seconds ahead of Infinity swimmer Cullen Biddulph with the young Black in 3rd place to round off a most impressive weekend. Kirsten Marriott won the women’s 3km championship swim in a time of 39 minutes 59 seconds ahead of Jessica Beukes and Jessica Canter. Whilst Slabbert won the disabled category in 57 minutes 53 seconds. Visiting Tygervalley swimmer Carli Antonopoulos swam the 3km swim in a time of 38 minutes and 47 seconds.
Nelson Mandela Bay Aquatics OWS Championships, Marina Martinique, 4 and 5 February 2017
10km NMBA Championship Swim
Men 1 Hayden Homes (2:23:54); 2 Kevin Richards (2:25:30);
Ladies 1 Amica De Jager (2:15:57); 2 Nina Petra Bodisch (3:36:51);
Visitors
Men 1 Nicolaos Manoussakis (2:00:02);
Ladies 1 Michelle Weber (2:11:05);
5km EP OWS Championships
Men 1 Ian Venter (1:00:49); 2 Nicolas Adam (1:02:40); 3 Slater Black (1:02:47); 4 Adriaan Bouwer (1:04:20); 5 Craig Cole (1:04:23); 6 Flippie Van Der Spuy (1:04:34); 7 Sergio Dos Santos (1:05:27);
Ladies 1 Amica De Jager (1:02:55); 2 Tayla Botha (1:04:35); 3 Carli Antonopoulos (1:05:07); 4 Jessica Canter (1:05:23); 5 Kirsten Marriott (1:05:30); 6 Shannon Austin (1:08:17); 7 Hannah Haswel (1:09:55); 8 Tasneen Ebrahim (1:13:00); 9 Tiemke Rijpstra (1:13:39); 10 Caro Fauna (1:13:48); 11 Chane De Jager (1:14:53); 12 Michell Strydom (1:14:56);
Disabled 1 Stanford Slabbert (1:34:48);
Visitors
Men 1 Nicolaos Manoussakis (58:06.3);
Ladies 1 Michelle Weber (1:00:46);
3km NMBA Championship Swim
Men 1 Ian Venter (36:33); 2 Cullen Bladuiph (36:44); 3 Slater Black (36:46); 4 Nicolas Adam (37:22); 5 Adriaan Bouwer (37:39); 6 Cole Craig (37:43); 7 Josh Tucker (38:12); 8 Sergio Dos Santos (38:50); 9 Flippie Van Der Spuy (38:52); 10 Credence Pattinson (38:55); 11 Chris Moubray (41:12); 12 Teagan Strydom (42:08); 13 Brandon Chapman (43:20); 14 Martin Wolmarans (43:45); 15 Heinrich Vorster (43:45); 16 Stephan Vorster (43:45); 17 Ethan Harris (43:49); 18 Luke Norris (43:51); 19 Pj Duffy (43:56); 20 Participant 179 (44:16); 21 Deacon Kingman (44:18); 22 J C Van Wyk (45:11); 23 Manuel Strydom (45:35); 24 Greg Hough (46:29); 25 Emil Hougaard (51:23); 26 Kenneth Pattinson (53:40); 27 Xavier Janse Van Rensburg (1:09:09);
Ladies 1 Kirsten Marriott (39:59); 2 Jessica Beukes (40:07); 3 Jessica Canter (40:42); 4 Paige Black (40:44); 5 Payton Horton (40:55); 6 Jessica Booth (41:05); 7 Chloe Velde (41:28); 8 Hannah Counihan (42:28); 9 Tasneen Ebrahim (42:41); 10 Tayla-Jade Van Huyssteen (42:54); 11 Denise Bosman (44:26); 12 Michell Strydom (44:29); 13 Tyra Roozendaal (44:46); 14 Khanya Jack (45:02); 15 Chane De Jager (45:09); 16 Shaelyn Walker (45:12); 17 Caro De Jager (45:19); 18 Keana Pearce (46:24); 19 Astrid Pye (48:14); 20 Amy Swart (50:50); 21 Angela Finlay (52:09); 22 Jenny Potts (53:21);
Disabled 1 Stanford Slabbert (57:53).
Full results from the weekends championships are available on the website www.ecswim.co.za
