NEWS

The opening of the entries for the 39th aQuelle Midmar Mile will take on a new dimension in the form of a joint family fitness and fun day at their new registration and late entry venue for 2012 – the Cascades Centre in Pietermaritzburg.

Sunday 11 September involves a little more than an exciting day where the first 100 swimmers can win prizes through one of their new sponsors, Sportsmans Warehouse, who will host the Midmar Mile registration at the Cascades Centre next year. Even the first 100 U12 kids who enter will receive a Spur Bravery Award that will entitle them to a free meal.

Then for those enthusiastic rugby supporters, courtesy of their overall sponsor aQuelle, the Midmar Mile organizers will feature their 4m x 3m outdoor TV screen with full sound in the main marquee to invite the supporters to watch the South Africa versus Wales Rugby World Cup match live at 10.30am.

Spur will be selling bacon and egg rolls and Sportsmans Warehouse will have a large Springbok World Cup themed display, with jerseys and accessories to gear the public up for this major event. After the rugby match, further entertainment will take to the stage in the form of bands courtesy of Marshall Music while a number of other highlights will be featured on the big screen throughout the day.

It will be a fun filled day worth dropping in for as more and more people move to outdoor fitness related events and hobbies as part of their lifestyle choice. The pleasant streams and trails in the Cascades area make it an ideal venue for mountain bikers and trail runners to pit their wits against a map and time limit to collect checkpoints in the NCT managed plantations and woods, introducing them to adventure racing. Much like the Amazing Race this is aimed at the outdoor enthusiast and adventure curious.

Fun-Family-Fitness is a day filled with entertainment for all ages. Great food; paintball challenges; skate boarding (coaching and awesome demos) and interactive games will also feature.

Something for the whole family!

Entries are now open online and entry forms will be available at all Sportsmans Warehouse outlets throughout the country from next week. Enquiries can be made to the Midmar Mile office on 033-341 0790.

2012 Press Launch

Rene Warnes with the Speedo girls	Martin Strel -The Big River Man - with the Speedo girls	Wayne Riddin (left) & Martin Godfrey with the Speedo girls
South African hopefuls - Rene Warnes (left) the Speedo girls with Myles Brown and Troyden Prinsloo (far right)	Martin Strel with his book and dvd's	Mike Arbuthnot (left) with Wayne Riddin and Martin Strel (right)

Midmar Mile 2011

Entries are way ahead for the 38th aQuelle Midmar Mile that takes place on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th February 2011 and is scheduled for the popular Midmar Dam resort in Kwazulu Natal near Pietermaritzburg.

The hype will certainly increase as the world’s largest open water swimming event gets billed as the Royal occasion with the future Princess of Monaco and former South African Olympic swimmer, Charlene Wittstock, taking part. Add the charismatic Lewis Pugh, often referred to as the human polar bear, to the fold in his first 8-mile feat at Midmar, and the event takes on a new meaning.

As new sponsors take to the stage each year for the Midmar Mile, the competition side received a tremendous boost this week with the likes of Speedo joining the long list of supporters. Their involvement will add to the two main races that will enjoy double prize money for the next three years as the organisers prepare for their 40th anniversary.

With the Speedo supported British swimmers heading out to compete in the Speedo 10km challenge on Thursday 10th February at Midmar, the competition will be world class once again for the Mile. Multiple winner Keri-Anne Payne will be out to defend her title while leading distance ace David Davies is aiming at being the danger man among the men.

Participants hoping to be part of the Royal extravaganza need to get online before the 24th of January 2011, when pre-entries close, to beat the next entry fee increase. Any enquiries can be made during office hours to 033-3410790

Posted 15.12.2010

Midmar Mile 2011

The world renowned aQuelle Midmar Mile is set for a royal occasion to celebrate the 38th annual event that takes place at the popular Midmar Dam resort on the 12th and 13th February next year.

Former Olympian and future Princess of Monaco, Charlene Wittstock, has confirmed she is definitely attending and will finally swim her first Midmar Mile. Wittstock competed at the 2000 Olympics alongside silver medallist Terence Parkin, her long time training partner.

“Over the last few years, Terence has gone on to do some fantastics feats in the Midmar Mile, both from a competitive and charity point of view ,” said Wittstock. “Not only do I intend to swim the mile but I will also be doing so to raise funds for the Special Olympics, which is very close to my heart.”

Wittstock is the patron to the Special Olympics Charity Foundation in Monaco.

"Taking part in the Midmar Mile will allow me to raise funds for the Special Olympics in South Africa and to support those athletes who really need the financial assistance. Being a former South African, taking part in the mile presents me with the opportunity to give back something to the South African charities."

"My background as a swimmer, and current position as a future royal, definitely presents me with a huge platform to give something back. The Special Olympics athletes are really brave and swimmers with disabilities have always been well supported at the Midmar Mile. I simply cannot wait, and this is a huge undertaking for me and its going to be great to eventually give something back by way of swimming the Mile."

Another high profile figure will be joining the future Princess at Midmar Dam to raise charity funds. Lewis Pugh, the first person ever to undertake a long distance swim at the North Pole in minus 1,7 degrees celcius, and in a normal Speedo brief, will be taking up the challenge of doing all eight miles.

After launching his book, Achieving the Impossible, in Pietermaritzburg recently, he asked if he could be part of the ‘8 Mile Charity’ drive as his next challenge. Pugh (40) will raise funds in support of Dr Ian Player who is the founder of the Wilderness Leadership School.

Pugh has certainly achieved the impossible and his presence, along with the future Princess of Monaco, adds a touch of class to the Midmar Mile never experienced before.

Race Director, Wayne Riddin, celebrates his 20th year of organizing the Midmar Mile and will once again attempt to set a new world record with the Guinness Book of Records.

"I feel honoured to have Charlene and Lewis attend the Mile next year. This will be a special year for me and I am certain we will break our record of 13 755 finishers as well as top the R1 million among the charity drive with their involvement."

Entries are encouraged online and the organisers have extended the early bird entry deadline to 31 October despite the entries being higher than usual at this stage. It must be noted that entries will close at 10 000 swimmers per day of the two-day festival. Enquiries can be made to 033-341 0790 during office hours.

Posted 11.10.2010

Midmar Mile 2011

The world's largest open water swimming event, the Midmar Mile, have announced a three-year sponsorship deal with Kwazulu Natal based company aQuelle. The swim takes place on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th February 2011 at the picturesque Midmar Dam near Howick.

Race Director Wayne Riddin confirmed the sponsorship this week. "We have to thank aQuelle for coming on board with a three-year sponsorship. This will allow us to build up to our 40th anniversary in 2013 and hopefully break the World Record that we already have with the Guinness Book of Records."

Entries for the aQuelle Midmar Mile will be opened in August where the organisers will follow the lead set recently by the Comrades Marathon - the intitial online entries will be open from the 1st August to the 30 September at a reduced fee. A maximum 20 000 entries will be accepted each year.

Enquiries can be made to the office on 033-341 0790.

Posted 23.08.2010

Midmar Mile 2011

Online entries open on the Sunday 1st August for the 38th aQuelle Midmar Mile swim that takes place at the popular Midmar Dam resort near Pietermaritzburg, Kwazulu Natal, on the 12th and 13th February 2011.

There will be a total of 13 seeding events throughout the country leading up to the world class event in Howick, starting as early as October and ending three weeks prior to the world's largest open water swimming event. This also includes the Southern Sun New Year swim as far away as Cape Town.

"We will be challenging our Guinness World Record once again," said Race Director Wayne Riddin. "Although we broke it in 2010, we had not applied officially before the race, so we plan to give the swimmers something special next year with a host of new sponsors on board."

"There will be some significant changes as we target our 13 755 finishers record. The first of these will be the new swimcap colours that will depict the corporate colours of new overall sponsors, aQuelle. The second will be the new window periods available for online entries. In order to improve our organising, we are encouraging swimmers to enter early to help with our planning, something we saw working very effectively with this year's Comrades Marathon."

While the Midmar Mile focusses on the participants completing the race, there will still be the usual international flavour to the final two events. Most of the British, Hungarian and German swimmers are expected to return and will have an added programme to compete at. Besides for the 5km and 10km events on Monday 14th and Tuesday 15th February, they will be able to move onto the Redhouse River Mile and then onto the Cape Classic Mile in Cape Town on the following two weekends.

The online entries will open at a fee of R110 until 30 September before the increases start. Entrants are able to do credit card payments or EFT's and any queries can be directed to the events office on 033-341 0790 during office hours.

Posted 19.08.2010

Midmar Mile 2011

Posted 30.07.2010

Midmar Mile 2010 Day 2:

It was all excitement at the 37th Halfway Telkom Midmar Mile at the picturesque Midmar Dam resort in the most closely contested races in the events illustrious history. The ladies event saw crowd favourite and multiple champion Keri Ann Payne add yet another title to her trophy cabinet. The world 10km champion and Olympic silver medallist was content to let compatriot Katy Whitfield set the early pace with the entire British contingent dominating proceedings at the head of the field.

Whitfield claimed all three "hot-spots" at the 400m 800m and 1200m marks while British team-mates Payne, Olympic bronze medallist Cassandra Patton, the much improved Charlotte Wooliscroft and Sophie Casson held sway against the local challenge.

While Kathryn Meaklim and Rene Warnes were able to compete with their illustrious competitors it was the diminutive Nicole Brits who impressed with a high stroke rate despite falling off the pace in the closing stages of the race. With 250m to go it was the experienced Payne who picked up the pace and moved into the lead, a position she was to maintain in claiming her 6th Halfway Telkom Midmar Mile title in a time of 19:24 - just ahead of a game Whitfield who had to settle for silver after a brave effort in a time of 19:27.

The British contingent claimed the next three places with Patton (19:30) claiming the bronze ahead of Wooliscroft and Sophie Casson who were both credited with a time of 19:34.

Meaklim (19:40) headed the South African challenge when she secured 6th place followed by Warnes (19:55) and the promising Brits (20:05)

Brittney Cameron (20:57) and Megan Stephens (21:33) completed the top ten in an event that was dominated by the international visitors.

With a host of international competitors lining up to take on South Africa's finest open water swimming competition, it was the dynamic Chad Ho who headed the chasing pack out from the gun in the final men's race.

The Cape Town duo of Heerden Herman and Danie Marias headed the chasing pack which included defending champion Riaan Schoeman, former champion Shaun Dias, the German duo of Alexander Studzinski and Christian Reichert through the first two "hot-spots" at the 400m and 800m marks.

It was at that point that Schoeman and Studzinski made their move and eased passed Herman and Marais and matched the determined Ho stroke for stroke. Schoeman edged ahead at the 1200m mark to take the final "hot-spot", while Great Britain's Daniel Fogg and local lad, Myles Brown surged toward the leaders.

With 200m to go the leading group of six swimmers were in an extended line matching each other stroke for stroke. Schoeman again surged, Ho and Studzinski responded while Fogg seemed to effortlessly move into contention. Coming into the slipway it was Fogg who held a slight advantage, with Ho bringing in a massive lick to move up onto his shoulder.

As they entered the shallows, Fogg stood up first slightly ahead, but Ho's Midmar mile experienced allowed him surge over the line to claim victory by the slightest of margins. Ho claimed his title in a time of 18minutes 39seconds with the British ace being credited with 18:40.

The battle for the minor placing saw Schoeman (18:42) edge Studzinski (18:43) in another close call with Brown heading in the chasing pack in a time of 18:45.

The talented Shaun Dias followed in 18:51, a massive effort when one considers that it was his fourth mile of the weekend, well ahead of his Seagulls team-mate Chad le Clos (18:57).

Another German, Christian Reichert, placed 8th ahead of Tom Allen from Great Britain. Both athletes were credited with a time of 19:00 while early contender Heerden Herman claimed 10th place in 19:02 - completing the closest race ever for the top 10 in the 37 year history of the world's biggest open water swimming event.

So as the curtain comes down on yet another highly successful Halfway Telkom Midmar Mile, and the City and Kwazulu Natal can reflect with much contentment on what was without a doubt the most exciting event in the race's illustrious history.

Midmar Mile 2010 Day 1:

Action at the 2010 Halfway Telkom Midmar Mile began before eight o'clock on Saturday morning when Terence Parkin, the most successful athlete in the history of the Deaflympics, set off on an epic record attempt aimed at raising funds for the Saint Vincent School for the Deaf.

A member of the Eight-Mile club, which raises money for charity, Parkin began his day from the finish, swimming to the start for the beginning of event number one. From that point he joined in the race, on his way to swimming 16 miles over the course of the weekend. His aim included trying to swim each race in less than 25 minutes, a feat Midmar Mile veterans would agree is an excellent effort in a single event. A full wrap on Parkin's achievement will follow later in the week.

For many the highlight of the eight races that make up the Midmar Mile, event one includes the various disabled categories and the Ironman and Ironwoman competitions.

Craig Groenewald won the event for the 13th time in 13 attempts, pulling away near the end from former winner of the men's 13 to 30 race Gareth Fowler to cross the finishing line in 22:42. Fowler finished in 23:15, five seconds ahead of his great friend Terence Parkin. Together with Ryk Neethling, Fowler is the only three-time men's winner in the 37-year history of the Midmar Mile. Now a doctor, he doesn't have the opportunity to train as much as he would like to, but, he said: "This event has given me so much and I want to give it something back by coming back each year to support it."

Gary Shea was the first of the Ironman finishers in fourth place.

South African Paralympic star Shireen Sapiro placed in the top 10, stopping the clock in exactly 26 minutes.

Crowd favourite Chad Gifford, who has no lower limbs, slightly improved on his time of 2009, finishing in 34:40. His first Midmar Mile, last year, was swum after a mix-up in arrangements for another event, but now, he says, he loves the race. Three friends from Johannesburg accompanied Gifford to swim and support his efforts.

Adri Visser, a three-time winner of the Courage Trophy, completed her swim in less than 40 minutes.

Roy Rees, at a sprightly 86-years-of-age was the oldest male finisher.

Shaun Dias, the winner of the men's title in 2008, put in a strong and relaxed swim to easily win the Company Relay in 21:32, despite choppy conditions. Thandu Thusi placed second, but with Dias' brothers, Gareth and Paul, finishing third and sixth respectively, Dias and Sons romped to an easy victory.

They finished almost 11 minutes clear of second-placed Mr Price, with Swim Styles taking third, half-a-minute further off the pace.

German stars Christian Reichert and race newcomer Alex Studzinski, swimming for Team International, left the rest of the field in their wakes in the Non-Company Relay. In the final 400 metres, Studzinski pulled four seconds clear of Reichert, the fourth place finisher in the men's race in 2009, to take the win in 20:05. Wesley Gilchrist of USN Spike was the third-placed finisher.

With Tyrone Venter, who had swum 25 kilometres on Friday, finishing seventh, Team International were convincing winners of the event and the two Germans sounded a warning to South Africa's big guns Riaan Schoeman and Chad Ho, who weren't in action. That's not to forget the threat of Great Britain star David Davies, the fastest ever entrant for the Midmar Mile over 1 500 metres, with a time 16 seconds faster than Ryk Neethling's South African record.

Team International's combined time was 1:01:37, with USN Spike second in 1:03:12, and Varsity College third in 1:11:07.

There were 3 009 finishers in the event, slightly off the world record 3 110 finishers, which was established in 2009. Included among them was 86-year-old Lorna Cochran, the oldest female finisher of all. A total of 3 526 people had entered the race.

Event four, the Family Relay, saw the Dias family record another comfortable victory and in so doing become the first team to win both the Company Relay and the Family Relay. Shaun led his brother Gareth and Justin Pienaar across the finishing line in 22:19, after another relaxed looking effort. The third member of the team Dias team, Paul, took fifth.

"It means a lot to swim with my brothers," said Shaun Dias afterwards. "This year (the victory) was easier (than last year)."

The Fair family finished in second-place, almost 10 minutes behind the winners, with the Mower family, former winners of the event and the toughest competition for the Dias family in recent years, ending in third.

2010 Overview

2010 Midmar Mile will be earmarked as the event of the century. In 2010 a new logo for the Midmar Mile, promoting its Olympic standard, is set to relaunch the event with mounting anticipation. Carried across this sleek new image is 37 years of heritage, sporting excellence and camaraderie. Colours and symbols used throughout the design represent athleticism and achievement perfectly balanced with a bold font for strength. Be a part of the 2010 Midmar Mile with special limited edition medals to mark this auspicious year.

Midmar Mile sets the record straight. The Midmar Mile is in it's 37th year and has attracted over 17000 annual entries over the last few years. In September 2009, the Guiness Book of Records officially recognised the Midmar Mile as the world's largest open water swimming event with 13 755 finishers.

We are inviting all the past swimmers, especially those who have missed a few years, to become part of the history of the race once again. We are aiming at trying to achieve that magical mark of 20 000 swimmers!