The second leg of the Telkom Virgin Active Swim Challenge Series brought some excitement to the usually sleepy town of Klerksdorp in the North West Province on Sunday.

It was the men's 1km event that had spectators on the edge of the dam as Shaun Dias and Jasper Venter swam stroke for stroke for much of the way.

Eventually it all came down to who emerged from the water faster and it was Dias who managed to get the edge on the slipway as he sprinted to victory in 11:49. Venter finished seven seconds back while Tyrone Venter was third in 12:13.

Earlier that morning the trio finished in exactly the same positions in the 5km event. That race was far less of a nail-biter however, with Dias producing a winning margin of more than a minute over the Venters. What was impressive with his 5k effort, was the fact that his time of 61minutes was achieved at altitude and in exteamly windy and choppy conditions.

The 17-year-old swimmer also claimed victory in the 1km race at the first leg of the series at Hazelmere dam, near Durban a week ago and looks set to compete in the 3rd FINA Open Water Swimming Championships in Dubai in late November

The women's events saw another of the first leg's winners Melanie Greyling bagging a double victory, winning the 5km in 1:09,12 and the 1km in 13:26.

Greyling, who won the 5km event in Durban, led from the start of the 1km race in which Christie Lategan finished second in 13:34, with Cobie Deytell just three seconds behind her.

Gaby Bombardeiri finished runner-up in the 5km race with Rochelle Isakov third.

Another notable performance of the day came from veteran Greg Price whose time for the 41-50 age group 1km event was seven seconds quicker than the 13 and under winner Carlos Lavos's time of 14:15. Chad Ware was second in that race in 14:19 with William Smit third in 15:35.

And in the 13 and under girls' event, it was Melinda Human who powered away from Sarah-Lee Taljaard and Carolyn Plaistow for a 14:46 victory.

The next leg of the series takes place at Albert Falls Dam, just outside of Pietermaritzburg next Sunday before the action moves to Maselspoort in Bloemfontien the following week.