How to swim the Midmar Mile in Style!

Hungarian pool beauty, Katinka Hosszu proved that she was no ‘one trick pony’, as she swam her way to fourth place victory, on the 40th anniversary of the ‘Midmar Mile’.

With up to 18,000 participants, South Africa’s ‘Midmar Mile’ is the world’s largest swimming event, and for Katinka, her first open water experience.

After such an incredible result, we wondered whether the Pink Lady would consider a move from pool to open water, and this is what she had to say…

“The open water was completely different from the pool. In the pool I have control of my race, and know exactly where I’m swimming and how much further I have to go. In the open water I felt as though I had little control.”

On the Midmar Mile……

“I got off to a good start, and was able to get out in front early on.  Everyone was swimming frantically, in such close proximity, it was difficult to see straight. So, when when Ashley Twichell swam up close to me, I thought it would be a good idea to allow her to take the lead, as she is experienced in open water swimming, and should be able to swim straight.

Unfortunately, when she passed me, my goggles got hit and then filled up with water.”

Instead of stopping to adjust them, Katinka continued to swim on blindly, laughing…

“I had no idea what direction I was swimming in. I was so difficult to see, I just kept on going what I thought was straight, but was later told that I was anything but straight.”

In her own words, “ I was swimming in a mindless fashion.”

She then went on to say…

“The finish was pretty exciting, every swimmer had to run out of the water and stop the time.”

Although she really enjoyed the Midmar Mile, Katinka certainly won’t be hanging up her pool goggles just yet. She definately prefers the pool, where she has her own lane and does not come in to direct contact with other swimmers. She would however, like to try more open water swims, but quickly added “the short ones only.”

Ashley Twichell won the race, followed by Keri-Anne Payne and Michelle Weber.

Please let us know about your first experiences with the ‘open water’, we would love to hear about them…