Olympic medalists David Davies and Cassandra Patten turned on the juice during the second half of the aQuelle Midmar Mile this morning in South Africa.

Under overcast skies but benefitting from flat water amid the beautiful rolling green hills in the peaceful Midmar Dam, the two British Olympians showed they will again be a force to reckon with on the world scene.

David nearly negative split his victorious swim in 24°C (75°F) water, finishing in 1:58:48, comfortably ahead of British teammate Tom Sunter (2:01:05) and Rok Kerin of Slovenia (2:01:16). His pace especially picked up during the last 2K when he was pushing a fantastically fast 90-92 stroke per minute pace with a 4-6 beat kick.

Cassandra finished sixth overall in 2:01:32 and also looked fit and comfortable in a relatively easy victory. “I love racing against the men,” admitted the only swimmer who finaled in both a pool event (800 meter freestyle) and open water swim at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Mark Perry, head coach of the British open water team, has been training his team hard in a three-way training program in South Africa so there were some tired arms among the visiting British as they churned around the two-loop race, but overall the British team looked mighty impressive.

It should be a great race between local favorite and 2010 FINA 10K Marathon Swimming World Cup champion Chad Ho and David Davies on Sunday in the showcase 1-mile elite heat at the Midmar Mile.

The overall results:
1. David Davies, 1:58:48
2. Tom Sunter, 2:01:05
3. Rok Kerin, 2:01:16
4. Troyden Prinsloo, 2:01:21
5. Alfie Howes, 2:01:28
6. Cassie Patten, 2:01:32
7. Keri-Anne Payne, 2:06:35
8. Jack Burnell, 2:06:35
9. Charlotte Wooliscroft, 2:09:03
10. Nicole Brits, 2:14:59
11. Brenda Russell, 2:20:36
12. Karlien Van Heerden, 2:20:45
13. Tyron Venter, 2:31:19
14. Garreth Beech, 2:38:37
15. Terrence Peter Bantock, 2:58:30
16. Nosipho Caroline Stiglmayr, 3:00:24

Photos and videos to be posted next week.

Copyright © 2011 by Open Water Source