A 20-year-old defending a title against an international swimming legend can seemingly be intimidating, but Stephanie Houtman sees it as an exciting learning experience. 

Last year, the Tuks swimmer surprised many when she won the aQuellé Midmar Mile women's race (1.6km). She actually did not plan on competing but it turned out to be a spur-of-the-moment decision. 

On Sunday, she will line up, hoping to defend her title, but she is not taking anything for granted. At the start, standing next to her or close to her will be the open water world champion, Sharon van Rouwendaal of the Netherlands. 

During last year's World Champs, the Dutch swimmer won gold in the 10km open water event. She was also victorious during the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. In 2021, during the Tokyo Olympic Games in Japan, she won silver.

The two-time Midmar women's champion and South African Olympian Michelle Weber is also competing. In 2022 Weber set a record swimming the English Channel (England to France - 32km) in 10 hours and 21 minutes. It is the fastest by a South African female swimmer.

Houtman describes getting an opportunity to test herself against an Olympic and World Champs medallist as exciting. At the same time, she can't help but be slightly nervous. 

"Sharon van Rouwendaal is a role model for open-water swimming. Because she is such a fantastic athlete, I will take it as it is. It means I will do my best and see where it leaves me.

"Open water is very unpredictable. Anything can happen in the race. It is never just a case of putting your head down and swimming in a straight line. There are definite tactics that come into play."

O thing that Houtman got going for her is that she is much more experienced than last year. She represented South Africa at the World Championships in Budapest and the World Short Course Championships (25-metre pool) in Melbourne. She competed in the 800m and 1500m metre freestyle events. 

The Tuks swimmer admits being intimidated when competing at a senior world championship for the first time. 

"When I walked out to the starting blocks in Budapest, I did not want to look up at the stands as I knew I would freak out. Despite trying my utmost to stay calm, my nerves did get the better of me. I was OK once I started to swim. 

"The experience stood me in good stead. When I competed in Melbourne. I was calmer because competing against the world's best was something I had done before."

According to Houtman, her real focus this season is improving her times over 1500 metres in the pool. She is still undecided on how much she wants to commit to open-water swimming. 

"I love the challenges that come with open-water swimming, but my passion is to see how good I can be in the pool. I need to improve by about 30 seconds to be competitive in international swimming. It is a lot. But it is doable if I put my mind to it. One of the things I got to improve on is my turns. My pull-through with my strokes could be stronger. Generally, the small things make a big difference in the end."