With a huge entry anticipated for the 40th anniversary edition of the aQuellé Midmar Mile, eager swimmers have less than a week to take advantage of the discounted early entry to secure their place on the start line for the milestone event on 9 and 10 February.
Swimmers have until 16 December to take advantage of the second stage of the early bird entry fees. After that, the cost will go up incrementally as the event draws nearer.
Entering at Midmar Dam over the weekend of the race will cost R250. Enter before 17 December and the cost will be R100 less, at R150.
Besides saving competitors some money, early entries are also good for the administration of the Midmar Mile, said race organiser Wayne Riddin on Friday. “It helps us plan a bit better,” he explained.
Registration will again take place at Sportsman's Warehouse at the Cascades Lifestyle Centre in the three days preceding the Midmar Mile. “People can do late entries there, but it is more expensive,” Riddin said.
He also indicated that entering online is the surest way of ensuring participation in the world’s largest open water swimming event. “We prefer the people to make use of the lower entry fee and get their entries in before the closing date. It’s also online and the more people that enter online the better for us because they capture their own data.”
Riddin said two Midmar Mile seeding events held at Heia Safari Ranch in Gauteng in November and earlier in December produced fields up by 10 and 15 percent respectively on 2012. Based on that, he reckoned: “We could be looking at a 20 percent increase, and that could be closer to the 20 000 entry mark that we would like to achieve for a Guinness Book of World Records attempt”.
The Midmar Mile already holds the record for the world’s largest open water swimming event, but the goal has for a long time been 20 000 swimmers, and the 40th anniversary of the race would be an ideal time to achieve that feat.
The next seeding event is the aQuellé KZN Open Water Swimming Championships on 16 December at Albert Falls. After that there are no more seeding swims in the province. However, the Elgin Country Club in Grabouw in the Western Cape will host the Brian Curtis Mile on Sunday, 6 January, which would be an ideal time for holiday makers to set a seeding time.
More seeding events will follow at Heia Safari Ranch and the Rynfield Dam in Gauteng, where fields of over 1 000 are expected at each. Bloemfontein will also host a qualifier on Saturday, 12 January.
Talking about the addition of the Brian Curtis Mile as a qualifying event, Riddin said: “We’re working with an event that has a tradition already. Our costs to get down there and help them and have it properly done as a seeding event are a bit high, so we’re thankful to Time Freight too, who have supported our seeding events in a big way.
“We’re trying to grow the numbers down in Cape Town. At this stage, from Cape Town, there are only about 70 entries, so hopefully we can encourage more people to swim on the 40th anniversary of the race.
“Gail Bristow, who has done the most number of swims by a woman in the Midmar Mile, is from that area.”
Event founder Mike “Buthy” Arbuthnot holds the record as the only swimmer to have officially swum in every Midmar Mile. Mike Pengelly had one unofficial swim because he was representing South Africa abroad in lifesaving on the weekend of the event one year, but has otherwise also swum every year.
Gail Bristow missed only the first year of the Midmar Mile because women were not allowed to swim it back in 1974! The first female entrants were allowed in 1975 which Bristow took part in and has not missed a Mile since.
Times and attitudes have changed a lot since 1975. So, too, has the size of the Midmar Mile. The total entry in 1975 was 315, more than doubling 1974’s 153 swimmers, thanks to 105 female entrants taking part. The goal for next year’s event is 20 000 swimmers, an increase of 63.5 times over 1975.
For more information on the aQuellé Midmar Mile, visit www.midmarmile.co.za
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