Easter Swimming In Nelson Mandela Bay

The 2010 Axxess DSL Ocean Racing Series in Nelson Mandela Bay, Port Elizabeth in South Africa is a great place to be for an open water swimmer during the Easter holidays.

The fifth annual Series will feature a special challenge race this year that will showcase the endurance, grit and sprinting talents of the world's best ocean swimmers.

On April 3rd, the 2 km Ocean Racing Series World Championships will be held with top-notch South African swimmers, like world championship medalist Chad Ho, competing against world-class non-South African swimmers. The race is part of the vision created by Michael Zoetmulder who organizes Africa's largest beach events.

On April 4th, the Nelson Mandela Bay Bell Buoy Challenge with prize money totaling R33,000 (US$4,446) will be held. This is a 7 km out-and-back ocean swim from Hobie Beach to a Bell Buoy located about 3.5K off-shore from Hobie Beach).

On April 5th, the 750-meter King of the Bay Swim Challenge with prize money totaling R24,000 (US$3,232) is a very unique and interesting event with five separate elimination rounds. Twenty swimmers will qualify for the finals, but the last four swimmers are eliminated during each round until the fastest four swimmers race for in the final round for the prize money with separate heats and finals for the men and women.

This knock-down, get-up-and-go elimination open water race will require both endurance fitness and sprinting talent as the rest between each break will only be as long as it takes for the opposite gender to complete their round. So, as soon as the women finish their heat, the men take off.

An overview of the fabulous ocean racing series can be seen here:



The world's best ocean swimmers - a unique mano-a-mano challenge - and a fun-filled family event in Nelson Mandela Bay - what an Easter weekend.

Copyright © 2009 by World Open Water Swimming Association