Favourite Chad Ho won a fifth consecutive Midmar Mile when he edged out Troyden Prinsloo in one of the closest races in history, while Ashley Twichell clinched the women’s crown for a second year running at Midmar Dam today.
South African pair Ho and Prinsloo both swam a time of 18 minutes and 18 seconds, but were eventually separated by an eighth (0.08) of a second in what was the 41st edition of the race.
The pair were neck-and-neck throughout the 1.6 kilometres dash, widely regarded as one of the world’s largest and most famous open water races, with the 23-year-old continuing his stranglehold on the race that began way back in 2010.
Another local, Myles Brown, was third in a time of 18:43, a second ahead of Danie Marais (18:44), with Christopher Mcglynn (18:45) wrapping up the top five.
Meanwhile, Twichell won a thrilling women’s race, edging Keri-Anne Payne by two seconds to take the title for the second consecutive year.
The American finished in a time of 19:45 two seconds ahead of seven-time winner Keri-Anne Payne, the 2012 Olympic Games open water silver medallist from Great Britain.
Michelle Weber (20:29) was the top South African and ensured the top three was the same as it was in 2013.
Kyna Pereira (20:30) came fourth, while Carmen le Roux (21:08) ended in fifth place.
Source: ZwemZA
