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Cape Town - Chad Ho and Carli Antonopoulos sprinted to victory at the 5th annual Cape Mile at the serene Eikenhof Dam on Sunday.
Ho claimed a hat-trick victory in an impressive time of 16 minutes 57 seconds.
"I tried to go out as hard as I could to get a bit of a gap, getting some clear water to get into my stroke properly. I wanted to have the lead by the first turn buoy. From there I just tried to maintain the stroke coming into the finish," he said.
"I picked it up over the last 100m - 150m. Bringing in a bit of a kick, I kept my head down and sprinted towards the finish. I always knew that Danie was going to be tough competition. We've raced for many years. He got the better of me last week, this week I got the better of him. That's the way competition goes and we’re still friends at the end of the day."
"The Cape Mile is just a fantastic event," continues Ho. "It's well organised and very professional. The venue is outstanding. Swimming in the Cape is always beautiful. It's all those factors that bring you back. Being the first person to win three events back to back is very cool. I am very happy with that and hopefully it's a record that can stand for a long time."
Winner of the inaugural event in 2015, Danie Marais came in second, while Chad Michau finished third.
Antonopoulos secured the top spot on the podium in the Elite Women’s race in a time of 18 minutes 30 seconds.
"This is my 5th Cape Mile," said a very happy Antonopoulos. "I raced Michelle and Robyn last weekend. We were all very close the last 200m, so I knew that I could stick with her. My game plan today was to try to slipstream Michelle, and keep with her as much as possible. She pulled away from me at one of the turns. I slip streamed two guys that passed me. I didn't know how far ahead of me Michelle was. As I got up (to exit the water) I saw her in the corner of my eye. I got up and ran for my life. It was amazing. Claiming the title means so much to me. I honestly did not think that this day would become a reality. I am just so happy.
Defending women's champion, Michelle Weber (Franschhoek) came in second, while Robyn Kinghorn finished third.
Celebrating its 5th anniversary in 2019 the Western Cape's premier open water swim, the Cape Mile brought to you by Sanlam Investments featured two exciting distances: a 1 mile (1.6km) which included a 5x 1 mile Charity Mile Swim and a refreshing 500m swim which included a 500m team relay (4 member team).
The event boasted a whopping R170 000 Prize Purse. Prize money was allocated to the top 10 elite male and female swimmers, with the winners each taking home an impressive total of R30 000. A sum of R10 000 was also donated to the school that entered the most swimmers.
