Double Olympian Chad Ho and Ashley Twichell (United States) had the crowd on their feet at Eikenhof Dam (Grabouw Country Club) as they came up trumps in Sunday’s third annual Sanlam Cape Mile.

The Elite men’s race once again came down to a nail-biting sprint finish, this time between Durbanite Chad Ho and Chip Peterson of the United States.

Both competed at last week’s Midmar Mile in KwaZulu-Natal where they finished second and third respectively.

‘Third time’s the charm’ said a delighted Ho, who for the past two years has been runner-up to Danie Marais and Myles Brown. ‘I really wanted to have a good race and impress today. I knew that it would be fast. I just kept an eye out and stuck with Chip.

‘I’m over the moon with the victory. The Sanlam Cape Mile is an awesome event and I’ll definitely be back next year.’

Ho claimed gold in an impressive time of 17min 48sec. Peterson came in second, while Danie Marais finished third.

Crossing the finish line in an overall fifth place on the day, Ashley Twichell’s finishing time of 18:19 secured her the top spot on the podium in the elite women’s race.

‘The venue is awesome,’ said a delighted Twichell who won the elite women’s race at the Midmar Mile. ‘It’s unlike any other event that we’ve competed in. We don’t have mountains like these in the States.

‘The race was really fun. The first straight section was tough. I couldn’t really see who was in front of me. I just followed the splashes. Once we made our first turn the visibility got better and I got into a groove.’

‘I’m really happy to come away with the win. The Sanlam Cape Mile seemed so seamless. It’s well organised and great fun.’

Rio Olympian Michelle Weber came in second, while Carmen Le Roux finished third.

‘We’re overwhelmed by the support that we received for the 2017 Sanlam Cape Mile,’ said Michael Meyer, Managing Director of Stillwater Sports. ‘Close to 2000 swimmers toed the line today. That’s an impressive achievement for an event that is only in its third year.

‘We’re thankful both to the participants and the spectators for making the 2017 event a memorable experience.  We look forward to welcoming everybody back in 2018.’

Picture of Ho courtesy of Tobias Ginsberg

Results

Elite Men

1 Chad Ho 17:48, 2 Chip Peterson 17:49, 3 Danie Marais 18:01, 4 Myles Brown 18:15, 5 Nick Quenet 18:54, 6 Stephano Roodt 19:30, 7 Dylan Wright 19:37, 8 Reino Von Wielligh 19:42, 9 Andrew Ritchie 19:46, 10 Gary Albertyn 20:01

Elite Women

1 Ashley Twichell 18:19, 2 Michelle Weber 19:02, 3 Carmen Le Roux 19:46, 4 Caitlin Kat 19:48, 5 Jodie Swallow 19:51, 6 Carli Antonopoulos 20:22, 7 Kiara Noades 20:23, 8 Flora Duffy 20:34, 9 Alexandra Quenet 20:39, 10 Mari Rabie 21:04