Paralympian Alani Ferreira surprised by her Midmar Mile time

JOHANNESBURG - This past weekend, the aQuellé Midmar Mile saw swimmers from all walks of life compete together, including three-time Paralympian Alani Ferreira.

The Paralympian was the fastest swimmer in her category in the event for swimmers with a disability.

“So my goal for this Midmar Mile was to go faster than my previous best time, which was 23:08, so I just wanted to go under the 23-minute mark. I felt quite strong in the water, and I felt like I was going at a good pace. But I wasn't expecting the time I got, so when I got out and Sharon told me that I went 21.31, I was like, no way, I was so happy” said Ferreira.

Ferreira was surprised by her time of 21.31 she tells EWN she surprised her coach as well with her performance.

“I wasn't expecting a one minute 30 drop compared to my previous time. I was really happy that I managed to get a 21.3, and the best I've done by far. And yeah, I think a lot of the credit can go to having an incredible guide. But I did enjoy it. And I loved, loved, loved that race.”

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The visually impaired swimmer said one of the things that made this Midmar Mile special was being guided across the dam by two-time Olympic gold medallist in the 10km marathon swim, Sharon van Rouwendaal of the Netherlands.

“Three weeks before Midmar, we knew I was competing, but we didn’t know who was going to guide me across the dam. I wanted a good time, so we needed someone strong and confident to get us across. And when I heard Sharon was coming, I asked Wayne Riddin, who is my coach and Midmar Mile organiser if the is a chance Sharon would guide me across the dam.”

This past weekend, Sharon Van Rouwendaal also competed in the 31-40 age category rather than in the main race, winning easily in 20:15. She won the elite women’s title at the aQuellé Midmar Mile in 2023 and has returned to conduct several coaching clinics in South Africa.

Alani Ferreira tells EWN that what has made the Midmar Mile special every year is that she’s never done it alone.

“I've always had somebody who's competing and racing and cheering me on the through that entire way. So each year I've had a guide, and I think the special part is when I cross that line with my respective guide, and we can say we did it and we did it together.

And then also winning the  Dea Slattery, Award for Best disabled swimmer was also a cherry on top for me this year especially having known Dea before her passing, she was the person who started with me when I was doing my international Paris swimming when I was young. So yeah, it had a bit more of a deeper meaning to me than just being the best-disabled swimmer. But also just that connotation to Dea was very special this year.”

 Ferreira represented South Africa at the 2024 Paralympic Games coming home with two African records, one in the  S12 100m breaststroke in a time of 1:21.36 and the other in S12 400m freestyle in a time of  4:55.98.

The SB12 category is for swimmers with a visual impairment who have a restricted field of view. Some cannot see the black line on the bottom of the pool, but they can see the end of the lane from one metre away.