PIETERMARITZBURG, South Africa – Marit Anderson of Calgary placed second in the women’s race on Sunday at the prestigious Midmar Mile open water swimming competition.

Five kilometre world champion Ashley Twitchell of the U.S. was first ahead of Anderson with Michelle Weber of South Africa third.

‘’It was a great race and an excellent experience,’’ said Anderson. ‘’There was tough competition, and a real fight but I was pleased with my performance.’’

Emma O’Croinin of Edmonton was sixth.

Known as the largest open water race in the world, the 2018 Midmar Mile has attracted more than 12,000 entries in its various races. Sunday’s Midmar Mile 1.6 kilometre race was the crown jewel event of the competition.

Anderson and O’Croinin are among six young Canadian athletes on a two-week Race Train Race Tour as part of Swimming Canada’s strategy to develop a culture of distance swimming in Canada.

In the men’s mile race, Kirill Abrosimov of Russia took the victory ahead of five kilometre world championship bronze medallist Chad Ho of South Africa. Ashley Hogg of Britain was third.

Alexander Pratt of Calgary, a member of Canada’s world junior champion mixed 4×100-m freestyle relay this past summer, delivered an impressive sixth place spot just ahead of Raben Dommann of North Vancouver in eighth.

Alex Katelnikoff of Calgary was 11^th. Ryley McCrae of Kamloops, B.C., also completed the race but his final result was not official as of publishing time.

‘’The Midmar mile is an exceptionally competitive open water speed event and I am really proud of the whole team,’’ said Swimming Canada Distance/Open Water Coach Mark Perry. ‘’They’ve come off two weeks of intensive distance training completing in excess of 70 kilometres this week.

‘’To back that up with these performances in such a tough world-class international field is very encouraging for the future. We still have to focus and keep improving what we do day by day, but the roots are starting to develop of a group of committed distance swimmers.’’

As part of Swimming Canada’s strategy to continue developing the open water program, various tours and events have been implemented to provide different experiences and growth to the next generation of distance swimmers.