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Amy Mardon claims third consecutive title

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Amy Mardon
Local swimmer Amy Mardon crosses the line to claim her 3rd consecutive ladies wetsuit title on Saturday morning.

The 2016 Jendamark Bellbuoy Challenge lived up to its reputation as the toughest 5km  Indian Ocean Swim on Saturday morning when a record breaking 108 of the 128 entrants completed the swim at Pollok Beach, Port Elizabeth.

With flat seas and a moderate Westerly off-shore wind the swimmers got off to a flying start and would have been forgiven for thinging this was going to be an easy swim. Once the swimmers neared the Bellbuoy some 2.5km directly out to sea they encountered a strong cross rip current which made the rounding of the buoy extremely difficult. Then with an outgoing tide and increasing head wind, the return became difficult with the final swimmer taking more than 3 hours 20 minutes.

For Port Elizabeth’s top open water swimmers it was business as usual as they capitalised on the Eastern Cape’s richest open water swimming event with 17 year old Amy Mardon winning her 3rd consecutive ladies wetsuit tile whilst Ian Venter (Men’s wetsuit) and Hannah Haswell (ladies swimsuit) both successfully defended their titles. Daniel Jones rounded off a fantastic week by adding the Bellbuoy title to his double mile and Mile titles at last week’s SPAR River Mile.

“Going out was nice but coming back was so tough with the wind and the rips.” said newly crowned champion Jones.

Age group trophys for the fastest swimmers irrespective of category were handed out after the event with Haswell and Venter winning the 18 and under age group, Wayne Jones and Kirstin Marriott won the 19 to 39 years age group whilst Pretoria swimming couple Gary and Megan Albertyn won the 40 to 49 years age group. Triple Springbok sportsman Kevin Richards and East London’s Nicolette van Nierop won the 50 to 50 years age group with Conal Turner and Sharon Ball winning the 60 years and over age group. 61 year old Gaunteng swimmer Ball became the oldest female bellbuoy swimmer to have finished the event when she completed Saturday’s swim in 3 hours and 7 min.

“Today was another awesome swimming event showcasing Nelson Mandela Bay and with swimmers from around the country taking part and being impressed by this event we look forward to continued growth going forward, boosted by our naming sponsor Jendamark who recently agreed a 5-year sponsorship.” said race director Michael Zoetmulder after the race. “To have a race of this stature backed by Jendamark, one of our local award winning companies and Caltex Eastern Cape speaks volumes for open water swimming in these parts.”

Full results from the event are available on www.bellbuoychallenge.co.za

Summary Results Jendamark Bellbuoy Challenge 5km Ocean Swim

Swim Suit

  • Men: 1 Daniel Jones (1:06:09); 2 Gary Albertyn (1:09:47); 3 Dylan Smith (1:11:08); 4 PJ Duffy (1:18:53); 5 Chris Mowbray (1:18:55); 6 Brendan Lock (1:21:34); 7 Andrew Turner (1:21:45); 8 Byron Lockett (1:22:36); 9 Jc Van Wyk (1:25:10); 10 Iain Geddes (1:31:03); 11 Kuno Boettiger (1:31:05); 12 Wayne Ketteringham (1:32:51); 13 Schalk Willem Van Der Merwe (1:35:30); 14 Markus Burri (1:35:50); 15 Mc Burri (1:36:12); 16 Dieter Marais (1:36:15); 17 Greg Hough (1:36:19); 18 Wade Van Rensburg (1:47:39); 19 Ian Thomson (1:50:49); 20 Philip Coetzer (1:57:35); 21 Tjaart Van Der Li Nde (1:58:26); 22 Anton Erasmus (1:59:04); 23 Peter Wieselthaler (2:01:47); 24 Robert Smith (2:03:06); 25 Andrew Stewart (2:08:51); 26 Andrew Angles (2:10:49); 27 Wayne Mukheibir (2:17:10); 28 Guy Wilson (2:21:46); 29 Gordon Hagemann (2:42:08); 30 Ian Van Der Walt (3:20:35);
  • Ladies: 1 Hannah Haswell (1:13:09); 2 Kirsten Marriott (1:17:13); 3 Megan Albertyn (1:25:21); 4 Sanmari Woithe (1:31:47); 5 Delwen Henderson (1:35:33); 6 Amy Keech (1:44:08); 7 Gillian Lithgow (1:57:59); 8 Nicolette Van Nierop (2:11:53); 9 Amy Erasmus (2:33:17); 10 Lisa Matthews (2:37:33); 11 Mary-Anne Stott (2:43:47); 12 Sharon Ball (3:07:41);

Wetsuit Category

  • Men: 1 Ian Venter (1:06:38); 2 Wayne Jones (1:09:31); 3 Kevin Richards (1:12:47); 4 Bruce Campbell (1:18:09); 5 Travis Mcgrath (1:18:11); 6 Eben Haarhoff (1:18:25); 7 Nicolas Adam (1:18:45); 8 Josh Mcgrath (1:25:38); 9 Nick Mowbray (1:26:08); 10 Warren Dickson (1:28:04); 11 Greg Tucker (1:31:21); 12 Louis De Villiers (1:31:35); 13 Andrew Masterton (1:32:14); 14 Simon Daniel (1:34:06); 15 Graeme Renard (1:35:16); 16 Warren Barber (1:36:00); 17 Stanford Slabbert (1:37:46); 18 Steve De Beer (1:38:53); 19 Kenrick Brown (1:40:21); 20 Conal Turner (1:45:13); 21 Ralph West (1:45:46); 22 Richden Jute (1:47:06); 23 Peter Marriott (1:47:36); 24 Bernard Lodewyk (1:49:56); 25 Coenie Louw (1:50:15); 26 James Medcalf (1:52:36); 27 Colin Archibald (1:55:15); 28 Peter Myburg (1:55:24); 29 Christiaan Joubert (1:56:26); 30 Stephen Van Niekerk (1:57:51); 31 Jacques Joubert (2:01:02); 32 Gavin Biggs (2:01:05); 33 Gary Stephenson (2:04:54); 34 Charl Parkin (2:05:52); 35 Christo Du Plessis (2:07:12); 36 Benlloyd Roth (2:09:14); 37 Chris Viljoen (2:14:02); 38 Andre Kleynhans (2:14:58); 39 Shuaib Abrahams (2:16:27); 40 Roch Thompson (2:16:31); 41 Ian Ross (2:24:44); 42 Miles Hollins (2:25:22); 43 Nolan Thompson (2:30:47); 44 Sean Swanepoel (2:33:08); 45 Yazzed Cupp (2:35:01); 46 George Winship (2:45:23); 47 Danie Pieterse (2:52:35); 48 Willem Dafel (3:00:26);
  • Ladies: 1 Amy Mardon (1:27:31); 2 Phillipa Holtz (1:31:51); 3 Kirstin Scott (1:34:29); 4 Natalie Goedhals (1:37:44); 5 Brigitte Melly (1:42:38); 6 Lizette Owen (1:54:42); 7 Rhiannon Farrell (1:55:29); 8 Judy Venter (1:56:44); 9 Linda Basson (2:14:20); 10 Mariette Hattingh (2:14:55); 11 Susan Derbyshire (2:16:16); 12 Katy Hofmeyr (2:28:08); 13 Michelle Mortimer (2:31:09); 14 Lynn Mcgregor (2:31:23); 15 Michelle Barnett (2:40:20); 16 Ronel Scheepers (2:44:51); 17 Barbara Fisher-Hill (3:05:57); 18 Dawn Black (3:12:26);
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Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.