News Headlines

Jason Jones won the SPAR 1km Ocean Swim this morning with brother Wayne Jones finishing 3rd in the Crocs 3km Ocean Swim. Michael Marais once again finished 2nd in the 3km swim behind Frank Greeff whilst Giovanni and Mickey Falco grabbed the silver and bronze medals respectively in the SPAR swim. Johnson and Pretorius remain unbeaten in the Beachfront Lodges 5km Beach Run whilst Marc Economou held off a strong challenge from Stuart Laing in the Boardwalk Ocean Paddle with Inge Economou winning the ladies ski race.

Recent winners of the DriveWear polarised sunglasses were Inga and Wilma Economou, were spotted at Crowhurst & Bond in Newton Park getting kitted out in there fancy eyewear.

Every race day there's the opportunity to win in our lucky draw prizes valued at over R15,000 per race day.

Race day 6 held on Sunday 13th Dec brought with it much needed rain for the drought inflicted Nelson Mandela Bay. Prize giving was held in the pouring rain, after some 500 entrants enjoyed the year's last Axxess DSL Ocean Racing Series race day.

Sunday 29th was a very busy day for sports lovers in Nelson Mandela Bay with the 3rd MTN ODI between the Proteas and England taking place at Axxess DSL St Georges Park and a national triathlon event taking place at Pollok Beach.

Both these events drained the usual pool of participants from the Series which saw the entries for the day drop to the lowest of the Season at just over 450 entries.

Round 5 saw the Series leaders extending their lead for Season 5. Chris van de Sande (SPAR swim), Frank Greeff (Crocs swim), Marinus Johnson (Beachfront Lodges beach run/walk), Marc Economou (Boardwalk paddle) were all in winning form in the overall category whilst the ladies section saw Carmel Billson (SPAR), Jessica Roux (CROCS), Liandre Pretorius (Beachfront Lodges) and Antoinette Scholtz (Boardwalk) coming through tops

Open water swimmers Frank Greeff and Chris van de Sande dominated the Ocean Swims today with Chris winning the SPAR 1km swim in a very fast 12min 53sec whilst Frankie cruised over the two lap Crocs 2km swim in a time of 24:12.

Both swimmers lead the overall standings for the Ocean Racing Series.

Thanks to the Beetham family, our 4th dream of the Series was realised on Sunday morning with 12 year old Adriano receiving a Playstation 2 set.

The Axxess DSL Ocean Racing Series hopes to realise at least 13 dreams this season.

Thank you so much for a wonderful race day yesterday! Although Siphesihle was very scared of the water, he was all smiles when he received his bike, not to mention the crocs!! We fitted them – and he did not want to take them off again!

We also managed to lower the seat and he can now reach the pedals. A real dream come true for Siphesihle!

Regards Inge Human

Branch Manager - Reach for a Dream Foundation

Greeted by an awesome morning in Nelson Mandela Bay, race 3 saw a huge crowd descending on Hobie Beach. Just under 600 participants took part in one of the SPAR ocean swim, CROCS ocean swim, PE Beachfront Lodges beach run/walk or the Boardwalk Ocean Paddle this morning before witnessing the Series presentation of its third dream for the Reach for a Dream foundation.

Dear Michael & Sandy

Thank you so much for letting our boys take part in the 5 km fun run. They were very excited when I picked them up from hospital. Many of them were not dressed appropriately, despite Betty explaining to them what to wear. I am so proud of them, they all completed the race. Although we said they should walk , they ended up running the 5 km. The medals they received will be treasured forever!

Learn & improve in a matter of hours with Total Immersion - the world’s most respected swim-improvement programme, famed for teaching a special relationship with the water, particularly open water. TI students learn to swim like fish and love the water, while traditional instruction teaches ‘survival swimming’

The Axxess DSL Ocean Racing Series in partnership with Audi, are driving the Total Immersion workshops to Nelson Mandela Bay - NEXT WORKSHOP will be in Port Elizabeth on 30th/31st October.

2 Day Workshops are held every month in Cape Town & Port Elizabeth - see schedule at www.totalimmersionsa.co.za or contact georgie@totalimmersionsa.co.za on 083 603 5308

It’s not just swimming, it’s Total Immersion!

One of South Africa’s largest independent Internet Service Providers, Axxess DSL, have been announced as the Title Sponsors for the Nelson Mandela Bay Ocean Racing Series - Season 5 which kicks off next weekend. Axxess DLS is a privately owned Port Elizabeth based company which is young and dynamic and is a great partner for South Africa’s largest all-family beach event which last season attracted over 5,200 entries.

Season 5 of the Axxess DSL Ocean Racing Series starts with the registration function at News Cafe next Friday evening (2nd October).

Total Immersion (TI), the world's most respected swim-improvement programme - famed for teaching a special relation with the water, has joined the Ocean Racing Series to bring workshops to Nelson Mandela Bay during Season 5.

Learn to swim like fish and love the water.

Total Immersion Can Teach Anyone! Whether you're new to swimming or have years of experience, Total Immersion can provide you with all the tools you need to become the best swimmer you can be. Swimmers - even those who have been frustrated for years - have seen their swimming improve dramatically (average improvement in stroke efficiency is 20%) in just a few hours.

Click on the Total Immersion menu item on the left hand side menu to read more about the program and the workshops

Crocs South Africa have given the participants of the Ocean Racing Series a great incentive to fully paid for the entire Series up front by offering a pair of Crocs Mammoths for the first 100 participants to fully pay for the Series. Included in the registration pack of these 100 participants will be a crocs voucher to be redeemed at Surf Centre.

Registration for Season 5 is NOW OPEN... Join in the fun and excitement of the Ocean Racing Series and take part in the SPAR 1km Ocean Swim, Crocs 2km Ocean Swim, The Boardwalk 6km Ocean Paddle or the PE Beachfront Lodges 5km Beach Run/Walk.

Online entries available from the Registration link alongside.

Want to improve your open water swimming ? Join the Total Immersion workshop and get what no other swim program can offer - the knowledge and self-improvement tools to become the relaxed, confident swimmer you want to be - literally overnight!

Friday 31st July (1pm - 6pm) and Sat 1st Aug (10am - 4pm).

For further information email or call the Zports office on 041 585 4843 or call Georgie direct on 083 603 5308.

We are very excited to have agreed a media partnership with Kingfisher FM, Nelson Mandela Bay's Family Lifestyle radio station.

Like the Ocean Racing Series, the radio station appeals to every member of the entire family.

Sick of hearing the same music over and over again? Tune into Kingfisher FM and besides catching all the breaking news and results of the Ocean Racing Series, you can tune into wholesome & encouraging radio that is intelligent, informative & entertaining.

Nelson Mandela Bay further enhanced it's objective to become the water sports capital of Africa as over 100 participants came down to Hobie Beach on Sunday 5th July to take part in the inaugral News Cafe Winter Warmer Ocean Racing Series Race Day.

Great weather, moderate water temperatures and great value for money was the order of the day.

Michael Marais and Sanmari Woite won the 1km Ocean Swim whilst Desmond Zibi and Thozama April ran away with the 5km Beach Run/Walk titles and Hadyn Skinner and Natalie Britz the Ocean Paddle race.

Following the successful trial of the 3km Ocean Swim last season, we will be hosting a short course (1km) and long course swim during this years Series.

The long course will start with a 2km Ocean Swim (races 1 - 6) and then increase to a 3km swim (races 7 - 12).

Plans for the 5th season are taking shape and we're looking forward to another record breaking season.

Sponsors SPAR, crocs, PE Beachfront Lodges, Cytosport, Autotrust, Blueseventy and Second Skins has no hesitation in confirming their support for Season 5.

Marinus Johnson did what others believed improbable, by claiming all 12 of the 5km Beach Run races. Johnson was undefeated to claim his 3rd overall Series title ahead of Shaun Korkie and ladies champion Ursula Kuhn.

Durbanite Lawrence van Lingen, recently relocated to Nelson Mandela Bay, won the overall 2km Ocean Swim from last season's 1km Champion, Frank Greeff with Kyle Henning in 3rd place.

After a mammoth tussle during the Series, Wesley Wiehahn snatched the overall 1km Ocean Swim Title from Christopher van de Sande and Ashton Beetham.

Daniel Strydom won the overall 6km Ocean Paddle Series title at the weekend following an outstanding season. Marc Economou, following an awesome performance to win Race 12, claimed 2nd place overall in the Series. Nielen Beyers finished 3rd Overall.

The trial 3km Ocean Swim towards the of Season 4 has been a huge hit with over 80 swimmers hitting the water at Sunday's Race 11.

Michael Marais was an easy victor, ahead of Justin Ashworth and Keith Robinson whilst top ladies were Sanmari Woithe, Hannah Chattermole and Liza Bright.

Full results available from results tab alongside.

Wet, windy, but great fun sums up Race 10 last Sunday....

FIRSTLY apologies for the late publication of results, but Zports has had a computer crash and we've lost all our data so it's been manic trying to get up and running again.

Well done to all those that braved the conditions on Sunday. With over R15,000 in lucky draw prizes, the odds on winning rise nicely on bad weather days :-)

Frank Greeff has thrown down the gauntlet ahead of the Redhouse River Mile in two weeks time with an impressive 2min win over pro-Ironmen athlete's Lawrence van Lingen and Raynard Tissink. Sanmari Woithe returned to winning form in the choppy conditions over up and coming open water swimmer Rebecca Newman and Hannah Cattermole.

Grey High School swimmers dominated the 1km Ocean Swim of Auto Trust's 9th Race in the Nelson Mandela Bay Ocean Racing Series on Sunday morning. The scholars took the first five positions led by Chris van de Sande with Wesley Wiehahn in 2nd and Giovanni Falco in 3rd. Sandi Eybers won the ladies 1km race ahead of Genna Greevelink and Lauren Munton.

Winning his 9th consecutive Ocean Racing Series 5km Run, Marinus Johnson extended his overall Series lead over second placed Antonio Seconds with Shaun Korkie placing third. 29 year old Liandre Pretorius won the ladies race from Ursula Kuhn, with Treloar Childs in third place.

Daniel Strydom also extended his overall Series lead, getting the better of Nielen Beyers and Jeremy Fox on Sunday. Kim Burnett won the ladies paddle race from Natalie Britz and Ruth Fox.

With just 4 races remaining in the current Series, 2km swimmer Byron Lockett all but threw himself out of the overall top 3 for the 2km Ocean Swim by racing Race 8 in the 1km Swim.

The change to the 1km swim in preparation for the defence of his SPAR Redhouse River Mile in 4 weeks time didn't go according to plan as Lockett finished 3rd on Sunday, over a minute and a half off the pace.

Hobie Beach, Port Elizabeth. Lawrence van Lingen extended his overall lead in the Ocean Racing Series with another terrific win in the 2km Ocean Swim here on Sunday morning. Over 400 enthusiasts from around the country took advantage of awesome weather conditions to take part in the Crocs 7th Race Day of the unique Nelson Mandela Bay Ocean Racing Series. Visitors to the Metro from Germany and Austria also took advantage of the conditions to take part in the Series.

Van Lingen won the 2km Ocean Swim in a time of 25min and 3 secs ahead of Grey High School scholar, Byron Lockett, and Ironman supreme Raynard Tissink. Rebecca Newman won the ladies category from Ursula Davidson and Hannah Caiter-Mole. Grey High's Christopher van de Sande won the 1km Ocean Swim from school mates Wesley Wiehahn and Adam Stevenson with Sandi Eybers winning the ladies category from St George's Prep's Christie Vaughan and Framesby's Aimee Swart.

The 5km beach run was once again won by Marinus Johnson and Ursula Kuhn. Antonio Seconds was second, with Grey High's David Veitch in 3rd place. Sharon Tessendorf was second in the ladies category ahead of Annemart Rossouw.

The 6km Ocean Paddle race was won by Donovan Mansfield (Men's) and Natalie Britz (Ladies) with Roderick Fox and Jeremy Fox in 2nd and 3rd place overall whilst Ruth Fox and Inge Economou placed 2nd and 3rd in the ladies category.

Over R15,000 worth of lucky draw prizes were presented after the event with Andre Geldenhuys winning the R1000 cash prize.

The Series returns with the Beachfront Lodges Race 8 on Sunday 25th January. Entry is open to all.

Over 400 entries witnessed the SPAR 6th race of Season 4 to bring to a close 2008 and reach the halfway point for this season.

With another 6 races still remaining, the Series has already realised 8 Reach-for-a-Dream dreams and has broken our race day entries record several times over the past 3 months.

Series starts again on Sunday 11th January.

A record entry of 517 participants put Sunday's Planet Fitness (Race 4) on the map.

Despite the absence of many scholars because of the school and varsity exams, Hobie Beach was packed as organisers gave away over R21,000 in lucky draw prizes.

Full results are available from the results tab and pictures from Sunday's Planet Fitness Race are available on the Beachfront Lodges website (follow the link from the photographs menu tab alongside).

Another record breaking participation entry for the Series and new winners take the fore.

Lawrence van Lingen (2km swim), Chris van de Sande (1km swim), Jessica Roux (2km swim), Maryna Marais (1km swim), and Daniel Strydom (6km paddle) all recorded their first wins of the season.

Just under 500 participants entered for the Second Skins Race 3 of the Series which still has another 9 races remaining.

The Series dream for young 5 year old Douw is growing so rapidly that we are hoping to realise this dream by the end of this year.

Through the support of participants in the Ocean Racing Series, we hope to be able to purchase a brace for Douw which will help begin the process of teaching him to walk.

See the Reach for a Dream menu item alongside for more information.

The Ocean Racing Series race entry record was shattered on Sunday with 482 paid entries for the SPAR's Race number 2.

With 201 entries for the 1km swim, 142 for the 2km swim, 110 for the 5km run and 29 paddlers, this absolutely killed last season's record of 387 entries recorded in Race 4.

Best of all was that SABC TV Morning Live were there to capture the moment, which was screened on Monday morning. See Video Coverage menu item alongside.

The Crocs season opener proved to be a record breaker for an October race and the past winners were immediately back into winning form (see results tab).

Over 300 of the 500 registered participants made it to Hobie Beach on a cool and wet Sunday morning to witness our first realisation of a dream for the Reach for a Dream foundation.

Support the Series and you will MAKE DREAMS REAL this season

New Series sponsor, fitsmart's Planet Fitness, will host season 4 registration function on Friday 3rd October at their latest health centre at the Moffett on Main lifestyle shopping centre.

Planet Fitness have also 'adopted' one of the development teams and these youngsters will receive additional training at the gym during the Series.

Well registration is now open and they are flooding in with a vast number of the registrants taking up the R600 (fully-paid) option which offers the greatest value for money.

With payment covering registration and all 12 race days, the registrant will receive a pair of crocs valued at approximately R400 (in the form of a reedemable voucher).

Probably more appealing is that fact that the fully-paid up guys will be automatically entered on Race Days so they won't have to queue each morning to enter. In the registration packs will be the 12 Race Day Bands.

Interest in season 4 may see record attendance at the Crocs season opener on Sunday 5th October 2008.

The Race Day record of just under 400 participants could be challenged as the Series heads into it's 4th season in Nelson Mandela Bay.

The Eastern Cape's largest water sport Series ends in fine style on Saturday afternoon with a glitsy function at the Boardwalk's News Cafe. Over 500 participants are expected to join the sponsors at the function which sees the awarding of over R20,000 in cash and over R100,000 in lucky draw prizes, including a FIAT Strada X-Space car from Eastern Cape Fiat.

Over 130 prizes will be awarded to the top 3 in every age group whilst the top 3 overall Series leaders across all events will get a share of R21,000 cash.

The function will kick off at 5pm with live entertainment and a welcome drink for all guests. Proceedings for the evening will climax with the presentation of the Fiat Strada to one lucky Series registered participant who will win the vehicle for a year, just for taking part in the Series. This will be followed by live music from Jannie and Baksteen. Other major lucky draw prizes on the evening will include a R6,500 Red 7 Surf Ski, a R3,500 Blueseventy wetsuit, a R1,000 SPAR shopping voucher and a Casio Sports watch from Maurice Lewin Jewellers.

The Series, which received extensive national media coverage, consisted of 12 race days over a 24 week period between October to March and attracted a total of 975 participants, 490 of these being Series registered. The success of the Series has been attributed to it's appeal to the social competitors with the 1km Ocean Swim being the most popular event during the Series, followed by the 2km Ocean Swim, the 5km Beach Run and then the two paddle events.

Tickets for the function at still available at only R40 per head and can be purchased from the News Cafe before the function.

Burmeister en de Lange Incorporated are sponsoring our development squad.At this stage we can announce that we have over 60 development guys taking part in The Ocean Racing Series. 40 of them are taking part in the swim and around 20 are taking part in the Fun Run.

The Burmeister en de Lange squad are consisting of talented kids from the metro learn to swim programme, local swim schools, local running clubs and the Ironman development Program.

The formation of the development squad ensures individuals are provided with sporting opportunities they may not have been able to enjoy. we can proudly say that a specially the swimmers are booking real progress. we hope to see more of that in the following races.

Written by: Sascha Koks

The temporary move to Humewood Beach on Sunday 15th December appears to have been a success with a lot of positive feedback regarding the facility and parking.

The beach offers more protection than Hobie Beach and being PE's premier Blue Flag beach, the toilets and other facilities are top class.

The SPAR Ocean Racing Series was launched in Buffalo City on Sat 24th Nov and despite torrential rain throughout, their was a overwhelming response of 85 participants. The Kat Leisure group sponsored the first race of the Buffalo City Series and there will be another 4 races in their Series. Next race at Orient Beach will be Sun 9th Dec.

Despite several other sporting events on Sunday Morning in Nelson Mandela Bay, the Series experienced another record with over 380 participants taking part and possible over 1000 spectators. The weather and the conditions were perfect for a “Wilde” race day.

Almost 200 swimmers took part in the 1km Ocean Swim which is still dominated by Frank Greeff. Frank finished before Michael Marais and Ashton Beetham.

The 2km swim saw over 100 swimmers taking part on Sunday. Byron Lockett who leads the overall standing made sure that he’s still in the running for the overall series title. He won with a impressive difference ahead of Christopher van de Sande and Matthew van der Berg.

The fun run gets more popular every week. This Sunday there were over 70 participants taking part in the run on a crowded Hobie Beach. Same as the Jungle Race, Marinus Johnson remains unbeaten with another win, ahead of Shaun Korkie and Thomas Duthie.

In a change of course owing to such perfect paddling conditions, the 8km paddlers were sent around the Bellbuoy. Wayne Oosthuizen took advantage of the conditions to win ahead of Ernest Linder and Nielen Beyers.

The 4km Ocean Paddle was won by popular artist Duncan Stewart with Leon Barnard second and Kristen Britz third.

(written by: Sascha Koks)

Last Sunday at the Jungle sponsored series races we found the best weather in the history of the Ocean Racing Series. Huge crowds were at Hobie Beach to witness another record participation in the Spar Ocean Racing Series of over 330 competitors.

There was a real competition over the 2km Ocean Swim distance. Matthew van der Berg and David Marais tied ahead of Raynard Tissink and Velia Janse van Rensburg.

Frank Greeff experienced his second win in the 1km Ocean swim ahead of Ashton Beetham and Michael Marais.

The 5km Funrun is still dominated by Marinus Johnson with his third victory, he finished ahead of Shaun Korkie and Thomas Duthie.

Leon Barnard won the 4km Ocean Paddle ahead of Kristen Brits and Jan Albert.

Nielen beyers won from Morné Coetzer and Mike Rieder in the 8km Ocean Paddle.

“Hope to see you all again in the next Wilde Sponsored Ocean Racing Series”

(Written by: Sascha Koks)

Despite the weather conditions forcing us to cancel the ocean disciplines for safety reasons, there were over 70 participants who took part in the fun run discipline. Some of the participants that usually take part in the ocean disciplines were great sports and took part in the run.

Current Series run champion, Marinus Johnson, continued his winning form in a time of 14'39".

The swimmers showed that they are equally talented in running with Dean Appollis (2km swimmer) coming second. Shaun Korkie was third, Enock Katu (1km swimmer) fourth, Athi Mtiya (1km swimmer) fifth, Treloar Childs sixth, Wayne Brown seventh, Marcel van Rijn eighth, David Duthie ninth and Thomas Duthie tenth.

(Written by: Sascha Koks)

The first race of the Series saw over 275 participants taking part in what can only be described as crap weather.

Current Series champions, Byron Lockett (2km swim), Frank Greeff (1km swim) and Marinus Johnson (5km run) continued their winning form with a victory in their respective disciplines whilst Graeme Brackenridge and Steph le Roux won the 4km and 8km paddle disciplines respectively.

The SPAR Ocean Racing Series offers open water swimmers the ultimate training environment on a regular basis. Those wanting to take part in the SpecSavers South African Ironman on 13th April 2008, are spoilt with a perfect base for their 3.9km swim leg. Bi-monthly Ocean Racing Series 2km races will give them a huge advantage over the out-of-town Ironman participants.

Only one week after the launch and already 100 registrations have been received.

This Series is all about family, fun, fitness and a healthy lifestyle - so the more people we can get to take part, the more fun we're going to be having this summer!

One lucky competitor will win a brand new FIAT Strada x-Space just for competing in the Series.

Eastern Cape FIAT were announced as Vehicle sponsors for the Series which ensures that we are able to provide one lucky draw winner with full use of a brand new x-Space bakkie for one year. Certain conditions will apply (see Conditions section on the website)

The launch of the 2007/8 SPAR Nelson Mandela Bay Ocean Racing Series was held on Tuesday 4th September and was very well received by those present.

Media, Sponsors and invited dignitaries were provided with information of all aspects of the new Series.

Support sponsors Mitchell's provided complimentary refreshments for all, with SPAR providing the eats.

Earlier this week we caught up with the 2007 Korean Ironman champion Raynard Tissink. Raynard, a regular to Series 2 of the Ocean Racing Series had the following to say about the Series.

“The SPAR Ocean Racing Series is a brilliant way to prepare for the Swim Leg of an IM. The best way to practice the swim leg of an IM is in the sea in a race situation and this Series provides the perfect opportunity for all novices and advanced IM athletes to do just that, in a very well organized and safe event.”

Series 3 will be launched at the beginning of September 2007. The Series will start with Race 1 on Sunday 7th October and will consist of 12 races on alternate Sunday mornings at Nelson Mandela Bay's premier beach, Hobie Beach. All website content will be updated on the 1st August 2007 to reflect the launch of the Series.