One of the many internationally renowned events that that place in the Pietermaritzburg area every year is the Midmar Mile. It takes place at the Midmar Dam, which is situated 30 km to the North of the City of Choice, close to the town of Howick on 9 & 10 February 2019. It is the World’s largest Open Water Swim event. This is the 46th year that the Race has been held. 302 swimmers have competed in 20 or more Midmars.
The title sponsor of the race is aQuelle. a mineral water company with its manufacturing plant situated about 90 km from Pietermaritzburg, near Greytown.
One of the legends of the Race is Bev Shuttleworth. She has 35 aQuellé Midmar Mile medals; she has competed in KwaZulu-Natal and South African masters swimming galas; she is the holder of many records and she is ranked in the top 10 female swimmers in her age group in the world. Looking at her long list of accomplishments in both the pool and in open water, it’s not hard to see why Bev Shuttleworth says that she was born to swim!
Bev, who will be making her debut in the 71-80 age category at the 2019 aQuellé Midmar Mile, recalls that she started swimming competitively at the age of seven.
Some interesting facts about the 2019 aQuellé Midmar Mile field:
- There are a greater number of swimmers from Gauteng than from KwaZulu-Natal.
- Just over a quarter of the field is between 10 and 19 years of age.
- There are slightly more men than women participating.
- The youngest swimmer is six-year-old Rachael Rodd.
- The oldest swimmer is 86-year-old Mike Arbuthnot, who was one of the founders of the event back in 1974. He has not missed a Midmar Mile and will be swimming his 46th Midmar. Mike Pengelly has also successfully completed 45 races followed by Gail Bristow and Martin Godfrey with 44.
- The company with the highest number of entrants is the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).
- The school with the highest number of entries is Oranje Meisieskool.