Australia’s Nick Sloman Tops Midmar Mile Open Water Podium

2024 AQUELLÉ MIDMAR MILE

• Saturday, February 11th & Sunday, February 12th
• KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
• Open Water
• Meet Site
• Results

The 51st edition of the aQuellé Midmar Mile wrapped up this weekend from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Australia’s Nick Sloman earned his 2nd event title, doubling up on his victory from 2019. Soman touched in a time of 18:29 to beat the next-closest competitor by nearly a full minute and a half.

Conner Albertyn hit the touchpad next in 19:58 with fellow Pretoria swimmer Sven van der Linde also landing on the podium in 20:01, good enough for the bronze.

26-year-old Sloman said post-race, “I found the first 1200m really challenging. I couldn’t quite get the rhythm that I needed, hitting that headwind and really sort of breaking my stroke up a bit.

“I was sitting lower in the water as well so I was basically swimming uphill… but I’m happy with how I swam it and managed to get the win so that’s always good.”

On the women’s side, it was Tory Earle who earned the gold, clocking a winning effort of 20:49. Behind her was Carli Antonopoulos in 21:14 followed by Michelle Weber, last year’s 10th place finisher, who notched 23:09.

“It’s really cool actually. I’ve been doing Midmar for a lot of years now so it’s really cool to finally win it,” Earle commented after her swim.

“My plan with Midmar is always put your head down and sprint. I just wanted to get clear of the bunch at the beginning and just go out fast. It’s usually better to sprint and get away from the pack early and then you can sort of catch your breath in the middle and then sprint at the end.”

Quotes courtesy of aQuellé Midmar Mile.

aQuellé Midmar Mile top 10:

Men

1. Nick Sloman 18:29
2. Connor Albertyn 19:58
3. Sven van der Linde 20:01
4. Matthew Caldwell 20:21
5. Reino von Wielligh 20:22
6. Reece Zowitsky 20:33
7. Joshua Ashley 20:34
8. Ricky Lottering 20:34
9. Max Spory 20:42
10. Rossouw Venter 20:48

Women

1. Tory Earle 20:49
2. Carli Antonopoulos 21:14
3. Michelle Weber 23:09
4. Megan Shepherd 23:09
5. Kirsty Andraos 23:11
6. Corné van Schalkwyk 23:11
7. Samantha Randle 23:11
8. Tayla Bruce 23:11
9. Rachel Arielle Smith 23:11
10. Taylor Pharoah 23:13
    

    2023 AQUELLÉ MIDMAR MILE

    • February 9th – February 12th
    • KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
    • Open Water
    • Meet Site