World class open water swimming takes place at Marina Martinique on Sunday morning in the 2nd round of the Cirrus Bio-ears Swim Challenge Series as South Africa’s favourite swimmer, Natalie du Toit goes head to head with fellow Olympian Marina Grimaldi from Italy. World class Italian swimmer, Rachele Bruni, will also be racing along with several of South Africa’s top 10km swimmers in the first event of the morning starting at 9am.
“I am very excited about racing at Marina Martinique again and looking forward to a very fast race on Sunday”, said Natalie du Toit. “We had a great time in Jeffreys Bay during April when we were here for the South African Open Water Swim Champs and it will be awesome to expose the venue to international swimmers”.
Grimaldi won the silver medal in the 10km swim at the recent World Swim Championships in Shanghai and is regarded as a genuine medal contender for the 10km at the 2012 Olympic Games whilst Bruni placed 4th in the 5km at the World Championships and was part of the Italian team that won the team pursuit relay at the 2011 European Open Water Swim Champs.
Du Toit, Grimaldi and Bruni raced at Florida Lake last weekend where Grimaldi won from Bruni with du Toit placing third.
EP’s 10km champion and World Championship representative, Jessica Roux, will also be taking part on Sunday ensuring that the field is the best ever seen in Jeffreys Bay and probably the best ever assembled in South Africa for a 10km ladies swim.
“I am looking forward to competing against such a strong field and am sure it will be a very fast race”, said Roux, “I was down for round 1 of the Cirrus swim last month where I swam my fastest 10km time of the season and will be looking to improve on that again on Sunday.”
“It is awesome to see that Jeffreys Bay is now regarded as one of the best open water swim venues in the world and we are looking forward to having an international field at Marina Martinique on Sunday” said Brenton Williams, Kouga Swim Club coach, who has hosted the girls training camp at the Marina during the week.
The 10km swim will start at 9 am at Marina Martinique, Jeffreys Bay and will be followed by a 5km, 3km and 1km swims with a 500m and bank to bank swim for the kids. See www.ecswim.co.za for the program of events and venue directions.
Rachele Bruni, Marina Grimaldi and Natalie Du Toit
