Chad, Natalie and other heroes!

Natalie & Chad in the Race for Honours

"Natalie du Toit and Chad Ho are among the three finalists in their respective categories, for the 2009 Commonwealth Sports Awards, with the winners to be announced in Leeds, England on October 24.

The highly experienced Du Toit has been nominated in the ‘Female Athlete with a Disability’ category based her multiple world record and gold winning performances at the Paralympic Games in Beijing during 2008.

Fellow open water swimming star Chad Ho, 19, who finished 9th in the 10km final at last year’s Olympics held in Beijing and who collected a bronze medal in the 5km competition at the FINA World Championships held in Italy in July, has been nominated in the ‘Outstanding Young Achiever’ section.

In reaction to the nominations, Swimming SA CEO Shaun Adriaanse said: “Both du Toit and Ho are credible ambassadors for aquatics and I am sure that all swimming enthusiasts will join me in wishing them the best of luck for this prestigious awards function.”

http://www.swimsa.co.za

"Olympic swim stars Chad Ho and Natalie du Toit put in courageous performances against the world's top open water swimmers at the FINA 10km Marathon Swimming World Cup held in Dubai at the weekend.
Ho clocked 1 hour 45 min and 7 secs to finish 12th in the men's race, while du Toit ended 26th in the women's event in 1:52.32. Time-wise, Du Toit's performance showed a remarkable improvement from her first 10km race abroad, in which she clocked 2:07.00.

"The race was really tough and the pace over the last two two-kilometre laps was really quick," said Ho.

"The conditions were superb for open water swimming. The water was quite still and flat."

World champion Thomas Lurz of Germany won the men's race, while Brazilian Poliana Okimoto took the women win. Both Lurz and Okimoto are firm favourites to win the overall World Cup titles, with Lurz's triumph having been the 9th win out of the 12 World Cup events he has competed in this season.

The final leg of the FINA 10km Marathon Swimming World Cup will be held in Sharjah this week (21 Oct)."

http://www.swimsa.co.za

-- October 22, 2009
THOMAS Lurz (GER) and Poliana Okimoto (BRA) confirmed their overall victory in the FINA 10km Marathon Swimming World Cup 2009 after the two last races of the series, held in Dubai (October 17) and in Sharjah (October 21), both in the United Arab Emirates.

.. In the 12 races of the 2009 circuit, both Lurz and Okimoto accumulated nine victories each, with the German swimmer getting one additional silver medal and the Brazilian finishing second on two occasions. Okimoto finished the 2009 10km World Cup with a total of 216 points, while Lurz accumulated 198 points.

In the men's ranking, Allan do Carmo (BRA) finished second with 132 points, followed by Russia's Vladimir Dyatchin with 108. Among women, Angela Maurer was second with 168 points, while another Brazilian – Ana Marcela Cunha – was third with 136.

Medallists in Dubai (UAE)
Men
1. Thomas Lurz (GER) 1h44m53s
2. Vladimir Dyatchin (RUS) 1h44m54s
3. Thomas Allen (GBR) 1h44m58s
Women
1. Poliana Okimoto (BRA) 1h52m32s
2. Angela Maurer (GER) 1h52m34s
3. Larissa Ilchenko (RUS) 1h52m40s

Medallists in Sharjah (UAE)
Men
1. Trent Grimsey (AUS) 1h48m17s
2. Thomas Lurz (GER) 1h49m15s
3. Evgeny Drattsev (RUS) 1h49m17s
Women
1. Poliana Okimoto (BRA) 1h58m17s
2. Larissa Ilchenko (RUS) 1h58m28s
3. Angela Maurer (GER) 1h58m30s

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine.