The 2019 South African Open Water Championships took place at Marina Martinique in Jeffrey’s Bay over the weekend. This year’s competition doubled as the official qualifier for the 18th FINA World Championships in Gwangju, Korea, with the top two athletes in the 5k and 10k races being considered for selection by Swimming South Africa.
Winning the men’s 10k event was Matan Roditi of Israel, who topped the field in 1:52.40.24. Compatriot Idan Mordel came in 2nd, while South African Chad Ho claimed bronze.
Michelle Weber led a trio of South African in the 10k race for the women, winning in 2:05:37.05, followed by Abi Meder and Robyn Kinghorn. Weber also took the women’s 5k title in a time of 1:01.58.42, with Robyn Kinghorn and Amica de Jager taking silver and bronze, respectively.
Weber recently won silver to Australian Kareena Lee at the 2019 Midmar Mile, the largest open water race in the world, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Ho, an 8-time winner of the Midmar Mile, was also in this year’s race, finishing 7th overall.
For the men’s 5k, Michael McGlynn of South Africa came away victorious, punching the time pad in 56:33.61, while his brother snared bronze with Namibia’s Phillip Seidler splitting the pair for silver.
