Railoun, van Heerden impress at Heia
by Neville Smith 02 November 2010, 12:14
The 2010 - 2011 open water swimming season got under way in he Gauteng region with the Time Freight Heia Safari 1000 – Series 1this past weekend.
With some of South Africa’s most accomplished open water swimming athletes taking part the large crowd of spectators were treated to some exciting and competitive racing at this pristine venue. Lake Heritage which is situated on the Heia Safari Ranch is regarded as Gauteng’s best open water swimming venue with the dam being touted as “Gauteng cleanest dam”.
The Time Freight Heia Safari 1000 – Series 1 is the first official seeding event in Gauteng for the 38th swimming of the world famous aQuella Midmar Mile which will take place at the Midmar Dam near Howick in the picturesque Kwa Zulu Natal Midlands on the 12th & 13th February 2011. The Heia Safari Ranch will host another three events during this summer.
The 3km event got the ball rolling with some of South Africa’s most promising open water swimmers competing.
It was Abdul Malik Railoun who set the standard for the domestic season when he produced a scintillating world class effort in winning in a time of 36minutes and 55 seconds. Never challenged Railoun who claimed a bronze medal at the recent African Championships in the 5km event was in a class of his own maintaining an impressive constant pace throughout the race.
Ladies honours and third overall on the day went to the powerful Karlien van Heerden who was equally impressive in her domination of the event. Her time of 39:28 is a clear indication that she is determined to make her mark in future open water swimming events domestically.
The minor placing in the men’s 3km event went to the promising Albert van Dyk (39:26) and Steffan Bolling (42:49) who just edged out the evergreen Greg Price (42:51) in what was a keen tussle. Caroline Edwards, who is currently under heavy training looked good in securing second place in the ladies section in a time of 41:02, while stalwart Nadia Bacchini completed the podium in 47:34.
The official seeding events, a 1km race followed and once again it was Railoun (11:56) and van Heerden (11:58) who claimed top honours in their respective 14 – 30 age groups. He minor placing were filled by Albert van Dyk (12:15) and Ryan Fair (13:06), while Caroline Edwards (12:51) and Kirsty Hyslop (14:21) were impressive in completing the woman’s podium
The girls 13&under and 31&over saw Kristy Kupfer take line honours in a time of 15 minutes and 25 seconds, while the minor placing were secured by Karen Kennedy (15:36) and Nadia Bacchini (15:37) both of whom were winners in their respective age groups.
The men’s 13&under and 31&over once again featured stalwart Gregg Price (14:01) who was involved in a keen tussle with eventual winner, the impressive Owen Sheft (13:46) with youngster Gyula Kasa (14:16) completing the podium.Again all individuals were winners of their respective age groups.
With over 500 entries, the general consensus by all who participated and attended the event that this was an exceptionally well organised event at a pristine venue.
This weekend the aQuella Midmar Mile seeding events move to Kwa Zulu Natal where the Spec Pumps Lake Eland swim takes place at Lake Eland. The next seeding event in the Gauteng region, the Time Freight Heia 1000 – Series 2 takes place on the 28th November.
For results, online entries and more information go to www.midmarmile.co.za