Florian Hentzen underlined his reputation as Namibia’s top open water swimmer when he won the Pointbreak Open Water Challenge at the Oanab Dam outside Rehoboth on Sunday.
The 18-year-old Hentzen won the 2,1km event in a time of 27 minutes 38 seconds to beat veteran Alexander Skinner by 10 seconds to the line, while Christiaan Lamprecht came third, more than a minute behind in 28:40.
Hentzen’s victory followed on his earlier victory in the Pupkewitz Jetty Mile, which he won in December 2011.
It was however not plain sailing for Hentzen, who had to overcome a tough challenge from Skinner.
The starting pace was fast as Skinner created a lead of at least 10m by the time he had reached the first buoy.
Skinner maintained his lead for the first two laps and the majority of the third and final lap, and it was only over the last 200m that Hentzen was able to close the gap and finally overtake Skinner.
When Hentzen was interviewed after the race by event organisers, Otb Sport, he said:
"I definitely found this race (Pointbreak Open Water) harder... the Jetty Mile is a straight race, and I don't mind the waves. This race is three loops of 700m which gets to your mind a bit.”
Junior Alexander Skinner won the 2.1km Youth category, for the third consecutive time, in a time of 29:48.
The first women out the water and winner of the Women’s Senior category was Miena Daling in a time of 31:51. Anneka Ackermann won the Women’s Elite category in a time of 34:23, while Marguerite van Veen won the Under 13 age group category in 1:00:53.
The overall winner of the 700m, and winner of the Male Elite category was Lushano Lamprecht in a time of 09:08.
Nicolai Flemming was second out the water and won the Junior Male age category in a time of 09:14.
The female 700m race was neck and neck, with Godiva Beukes winning in a time of 9:40, with Molina Smalley coming second only three seconds behind. Smalley however won the Under 13 female category.
Gabriella Liebenberg followed on Smalley’s heels to come third overall and second in the Under 13 age group category in a time of 9:55.
The 700m senior categories were won by Paul Munting and Leigh-Anne Agnew.
More than 130 swimmers took part in the annual Pointbreak Open Water Challenge at the Oanab Dam outside Rehoboth.
The complete results are attached.
| Attachment | Size |
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| Pointbreak results.pdf | 79.42 KB |