Lotter defends triple crown at SA Open Water Championships

Callan Lotter continued her dominance of women’s open water swimming by successfully defending all three of her national titles at the Bombela Concession Company SA Open Water Championships at Marina Martinique near Jeffreys Bay over the weekend. The 19-year-old comfortably defended her national 10km, 5km, and 3km knockout titles.

“It feels really good. I’m very proud of myself. Last year I just tried to stay with everyone and then take it out at the end. But this year my training has been much better, so I decided to take it out from the beginning and try and hold on and build a gap,” said Lotter.

READ: 'Representation matters’: Callan Lotter on inspiring the next generation of women in open-water swimming

WOMEN’S 10KM RESULTS

Lötter was the only woman to record a sub-two-hour time in the 10km race:

1st: Callan Lötter (1:59:36)

2nd: Hannah Neilson (2:03:54)

3rd: Carli Antonopoulos (2:04:51)

“The race was really good, the conditions were very tough. The waves were picking up quite a lot at the end, so you had to work much harder to finish the race, but I’m happy with how it went,” Lötter added.

Lötter also secured the 3km knockout title the following day, utilising a tactical approach of using the first 1.5km round as a warm-up before increasing intensity during the 1km and 500m rounds. The event features a knockout format where the top 20 athletes from the first round (1.5km) advance to the second (1km), and the top 10 proceed to the final (500m), with 10-minute intervals between each stage.

MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP HIGHLIGHTS
In the men’s events, Henre Louw secured the 10km marathon swim title following a sprint finish. Despite missing a buoy and falling 30m behind the leaders on the final lap, Louw managed to recover and claim victory.

Men’s 10km Results:

1st: Henre Louw (1:54:46)

2nd: Byron Kimber (1:54:47)

3rd: Connor Albertyn (1:54:55)

The men’s 5km event proved equally competitive, with Connor Albertyn taking the win:

1st: Connor Albertyn (57:26)

2nd: Matthew Caldwell (57:28)

3rd: Byron Kimber (57:30)

4th: Henre Louw