South African Long Course Championships: Natalie du Toit, Troy Prinsloo Take 5K Titles

JEFFREYS BAY, Eastern Cape, April 18. NATALIE du Toit and Troyden Prinsloo won the 5km titles on the final day of Telkom SA National Open Water Championships at the Marina Martinique in Jeffreys Bay today (Monday, 18 April).

An amazing photo finish between Troyden Prinsloo and Chad Ho as a hundredth of a second separated the two at the touch line. The final 200m of today's 5km race saw Prinsloo walking away with the gold in a phenomenal time of 55:44.12 while Ho collected the silver in 55:44.44 and Danie Marais took the bronze in 56:06.00.

"It is great to have won today after a tie finish in the 10km race yesterday. Chad Ho is an experienced Open Water swimmer and competing with him gives you that extra push. My main focus at the moment is to qualify for the FINA World Championships and concentrate on improving my swimming" said Prinsloo.

Chad Ho, who followed close behind Prinsloo said: "It was a good competition and the extra push from my competitor created excitement for the spectators".

With the 10km gold from yesterday, Du Toit's speed was unmatchable when she ended the competition on a high note, taking home the 5km title as well in a time of 1:00:27.09 Following close behind was 14 year old Michelle Weber in 1:01:23.33 and Nicole Brits in third clocking 1:02:43.50.

"The 10km race yesterday was a bit of a struggle however the 5km was very pleasant today. I am pretty happy with my performances and will be heading to Israel soon for more practice time in preparation for the World Championships in Shanghai" said Du Toit.

As the FINA World Championships are in July, Swimming South Africa will be looking at finalizing and announcing their team in due course.

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