The future Princess of Monaco, Charlene Wittstock, is looking forward to having a braai and spending time with friends when she arrives in South Africa next week.
The former South African Olympic swimmer who is engaged to marry Prince Albert of Monaco in July, said she was excited to be coming back and is hugely looking forward to swimming her first Midmar Mile.
Wittstock said she was not “in Olympic condition” and her swim was about fundraising for the SA Special Olympics.
The Midmar is the largest open water swim event in the world and is famed for ambience and camaraderie. Wittstock said she had met Midmar race director Wayne Riddin when he was in Monaco and then started thinking about swimming a race at a social level but also to raise awareness and funds for the Special Olympics.
Wittstock and another former Olympic swimmer, Germany’s Franzisca van Almsick, will swim alongside many swimmers with disabilities.
“I’m really looking forward to a braai, seeing my friends and if possible even going to a Sharks match,” she said.
Riddin said he hoped this year to break the Guinness Book of World Records mark with more than last year’s 14 300 finishers.
Also expected at the event is the Human Polar Bear, Lewis Pugh. - Pretoria News Weekend