PACKED BEACH DESPITE WEATHER

No matter the weather, the Ocean Racing Series kids are always out in force

Despite the near gale force winds lashing the city this past weekend, Sunday morning saw a packed Hobie Beach as over 400 entrants took part in the 3rd round of the fortnightly aQuellé Ocean Racing Series. Thankfully for the participants, the predominant winds are blowing off-shore resulting in relatively flat seas but made swimming tough for those in the water. 

"Certainly another tough and stressful day in the office this Sunday with the weather not playing ball, but this certainly didn't deter the interest and entry in the Series," said race Director Michael Zoetmulder of Zsports Events NPC immediately after the event, "It's only through the great support of the Summerstrand Lifesaving Club, Coastal Water Rescue, ESS Medical and Prodive that we are able to ensure our events are able to take part when weather isn't 100%. The water safety team is awesome and all credit to them for the job they do each weekend."

Building in popularity is the newly included 400m swim which was dominated by the 13 year olds Dane Iverson who won the race from Josh Neubert and Liam Liston whilst 10 year old Tiara Finnis won the girls 400m from 11 year old Jodi Wilson and 8 year old Jenna Coetzee.  With the majority of the top swimmers opting for the 1km swim this week, Series leader Ian Venter from Pearson High School had to bring his A-game to secure the victory from fast improving Credence Pattinson and Cole Craig whilst Kirsten Marriott won the ladies 1km from another rising star Hannah Counihan and Britney Brown.

In the 2km race it was Daniel Jones from Slater Black and Flipper van der Spuy with triathlete Liza Kingston taking out the ladies race from Rebecca Newman and Denise Bosman whilst in the 3km distance it was 52 year old SA watersport legend Kevin Richards taking the win from Eben Haarhoff and Jared Jordan with Hannah Haswell taking the ladies race from Tracey Gous and Idelette Olivier.

On the beach in the 5km Walk it was Juan Slabbert who returned to winning ways in the 5km Walk from Heiri Schuck and David Raymer with Belinda Niemand walking away with the win in the ladies division from Taryn Ferreira and Emily Stemmett. The 5km Beach Run was dominated by the kids from the Masakhane Future Stars program which is supported by Caltex Eastern Cape and affords children from the townships the opportunity to take part in the Series with no fewer than 30 kids taking part this weekend.  The 5km Beach Run was won by Luvuyo Stephen with Xolisa Tshona coming 2nd and Vuyolwethu Mbanyana placing 3rd whilst in the ladies 5km beach run it was Sanet Owen who won from Rachel Venter and Maritza Craig.

Only taking between 4 minutes and 10 minutes, the kids 1km Beach Run/Walk for children 12 years and under is always the loudest event of the morning and heaps of fun for the families. The kids also get to enjoy their own prize relevant prize giving after the race which carries a top lucky draw prize of R500 cash each race morning.  This week in the 6 and under age group the top 2 finishers in the boys were Jamie Aukett, Joshua Marais and Callum Loftus whilst it the girls it was Lara Lamont, Kaitlyn Richter and Kayleigh Marais. The youngest finisher on the morning being 3 year old Seanna De Jongh.

In the 7 to 8 years age group it was Aiden Joubert, Luqmaan Coetzee and Jack Mowbray for the boys and Hunter Dutton, Jessi Whitebooi and Ava Iverson for the girls whilst the 9 to 10 year age group saw Daniel Richter, Aphelele Ngesi and Aphelele Mpathi grabbing the winners medals for the boys and Abbie Mitchell, Hannah Charles and Amber Joubert for the girls. The 11 to 12 year age group had Xhanti Mtshengu, Hunter Swans and Jarred Swans winning the boys and Kerri-Lee Barnard, Ilze Hattingh and Lara Kleinhans winning the top 3 girls positions

The aQuellé Ocean Racing Series takes place on mostly alternate Sunday morning’s at Hobie Beach starting at 9am and is open to all. See www.oceanracingseries.com on how your family can get involved and join them at Hobie Beach for the next round on Sunday 27th November.