Durban - Over the years, Mike “Buthie” Arbuthnot, 84, has swum all 43 Midmar Miles - but has never done one dressed as a cow.
Today, he’ll swim his 44th Midmar Mile dressed in the distinctive black-and-white costumes of The Cows, adding his weight to their annual fundraiser for Childhood Haematology and Oncology Clinics.
Joining him will be his daughter, Tracey Bax, and granddaughter Victoria, 14.
Arbuthnot said earlier Midmar Miles were more fun and less competitive, and most participants were water polo players from Durban and Pietermaritzburg, as well as schoolboys from Maritzburg College and Pietermaritzburg’s Alexandra High.
“There was a raft halfway. We would clamber on, then push others off as they reached it, then carry on,” he said.
Later on, when the race became more competitive, Arbuthnot came first in the Under-30s, which has since become the Under-31s.
“I’ll be happy to just make it within an hour,” he said.
Back in the day, Arbuthnot added, the small group of swimmers who competed all knew one another.
But that doesn’t mean he is now in the company of strangers, among all the thousands of swimmers.
“I go with the Under-71s and over, so it’s quite an old boys’ club, although it diminishes year after year.”