THE annual open water swim, which forms part of the EC Swim Series, is set to come into full swing with the first of six events at Marina Martinique in Jeffreys Bay this Sunday.
The series, presented by Zsports Events on behalf of the Nelson Mandela Bay Aquatics (NMBA) and the only official open water swimming series in the Eastern Cape where swimmers can qualify for the SA Open Water Swim Champs, offers a range of distances – from a gruelling 10km swim to an entry level 550m swim for those who are new to open water swimming.
Event organiser Michael Zoetmulder says, “The series caters for all open water swimmers – social and competitive – and encourages growth in this fun sport.
“Each race day in the series will therefore be open to both swimsuit and wetsuit swimmers. Official SSA times will only be applicable to registered SSA swimmers in accordance with FINA Open Water Swim rules.
“The series will consist of five race days, including the NMBA Open Water Swim Championships – offering all registered swimmers the ideal opportunity to achieve qualifying SSA times.”
The qualifying SSA times are: 2hr and 40min (ladies) and 2hr and 30min (men) respectively for the 10km event, 1hr and 25min (ladies) and 1hr and 15min (men) respectively for the 5km event, and 50min (ladies) and 48min (men) respectively for the 3km event.
- M
Visit www.ecswim.co.za.
Important information
- Registration opens at 08:00
- The 10km, 7.5km and 5km swim start at 09:00
- The 550m swim starts at 09:06
- The 1.25km swim starts at 09:10
- The 1.25km and 550m swim prize-giving is at 10:15
- The 3km swim starts at 11:00
- The 10km, 5km and 3km swim prize-giving is at 12:00
Race days
- Round 1 – Sunday, October 14
- Round 2 – Sunday, October 28
- Round 3 – Sunday, November 25
- Round 4 – Sunday, January 13
- Round 5 (10km and 3km champs) – Saturday, January 26
- Round 5 (5km and 4 x 1.2km relay champs) – Sunday, January 27
