KNYSNA NEWS - Bevan Manson Surprise Big 5 Sport Challenge Winner in Dragon Featherbed Lagoon Mile Swim.
The second event of the popular Big5 Sport Challenge, the Dragons Featherbed Lagoon Mile Swim, took place on Sunday, July 3 at the Pick n Pay Knysna Oyster Festival.
There was an upset in the men's field with former South African water polo player Bevan Manson taking the win in the men's race and favourite Theo Blignaut finishing in second. South African triathlete Vicky van der Merwe won the women's race.
Said Manson after his surprise win: “It was a little bit chilly, but a nice swim. Great to swim through the waterfront with lots of people watching us, and there was a great turnout of participants.
"I was worried as I hadn’t swum in cold water like this before, but it was fine, as the gun goes and the adrenaline kicks in you tend to forget about everything else.”
Van der Merwe commented before her race, “Today is a strong event for me and my aim is to try and stay up front with the elite guys, but I have been sick so am hoping that won’t make a difference.”
After the race she concluded, “I am so happy with my win, it is the one that I was really hoping to take. The water was really cold so I didn’t do a course scouting warm-up, which resulted in me making a mistake at the bridge and doing around 200m more than I should have, but I was lucky enough to still finish in first.
"Next up is the Featherbed Trail Run on Tuesday, which I am really looking forward to. I am currently happy with my running; although I am traditionally a road runner I have been spending time in Jonkershoek on the trails getting more off-road experience.”
Stuart Marais finished in third place, but will maintain his number one spot on the leaderboard, “The swim is not my strongest discpline, but you have to make the most of every event. I thought that the water was really cold to start, but in the harbour it was even colder! Today was all about limiting the damage for me, and I actually really enjoyed the out and back swim, and look forward to smashing a big burger now.
"Next up is the Featherbed Trail Run which is my absolute favourite, so I am really looking forward to that."
The Big5 multisport challenge is a highlight on the Oyster Festival programme and includes the Momentum Weekend Argus Knysna Cycle Tour MTB Race (80km), Dragons Featherbed Lagoon Mile Swim (1.6km), the Featherbed Trail Run (15km), the Momentum Health OatWell DualX, powered by PeptoPro (5km run/30km MTB/2.5km run), and the Momentum Cape Times Knysna Forest Marathon (21.1km).
Men
1. Bevan Manson 00:22:52
2. Theo Blignaut 00:22:59
3. Stuart Marais 00:23:34
1. Vicky van der Merwe 00:26:32
2. Nicole Godfrey 00:27:45
3. Andrea Steyn 00:27:47
Big5 Lite results
1. Keegan Cooke 00:23:11
2. Jacques Coetzer 00:27:00
3. Gordon Shuttle 00:36:28
1. Ariel Rubin 00:24:28
2. Samantha Harrington 00:30:11
3. Kate Neill 00:30: 20
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