By EDITOR
When moving to a new area or a different city, it’s a good idea to join a local group with an interest similar to one’s own. That’s been the experience of Sharon Hammar, who moved to the Atlantic Seaboard a few years ago. “The experience of moving to a new area and meeting new friends through an activity is so important,” she says.
When Sharon moved to this part of Cape Town, she was encouraged by long-distance swimming legend, Eddy Cassar — a friend from years beforehand — to become involved in swimming. She explains that Eddy and many new swimming contacts welcomed her into their swimming world.
“I started swimming regularly at the Pavilion, and then moved on to Clifton and Camps Bay. The network of swimmers I now know well nurtured me to do longer open water swims, and they taught me so much about this type of swimming, which has many challenges you won’t find in a swimming pool,” she explains. One needs to learn, for instance, how to swim over seaweed, and how to cope with cold water and sea life. An added positive experience is the camaraderie among the group of swimmers she is now regularly engaging with.
Sharon’s swimming ability grew from strength to strength — and a few months ago she was invited by Eddy Cassar to do the Robben Island swim, a swimmer’s dream and the symbol of significant achievement as a swimmer. Sharon and another Cape Town Jewish swimmer, Nadine Pincus, took up the challenge. For Nadine, who has completed a variety of long distance open water swims, this would be her 3rd successful Robben Island event within the past five years.
“Eddy suggested the swim as part of his 70th birthday celebrations,” Sharon explains. Nadine had already planned on participating in the swim in celebration of the milestone birthday. For Sharon, the event created an opportunity to highlight the plight of the hostages held captive in Gaza since October 7th, and so she dedicated the swim to these victims of terror. This focus proved to be a valuable motivator for Sharon during the swim. As she says, “I was aware that I had exercised free choice in doing the swim, but the hostages weren’t given that sort of choice: they had been abused and traumatically removed from their beds, their families, their homes. I continuously prayed and prayed for their release. This spurred me on.”
Prior to the swim, Sharon and Nadine undertook a great deal of training, building up their swimming distances. This involved significant commitment and a great deal of time, but the effort paid off when all three swimmers successfully completed the Robben Island
swim on 15 March.
Sharon explains that, “We had to wait for the right environment — both suitable water and weather conditions — so we were on standby from the beginning of March. The day that we got the go ahead from Big Bay Events seemed perfect, and we were hopeful that the water wouldn’t be too cold. It was a fair temperature when we started out, but it got colder and colder as the swim progressed. I found it uncomfortably cold — even though I was wearing a wetsuit and I worried about Nadine and Eddy who were without wetsuits. I have the utmost respect for Nadine and Eddy who are the true legends of this swim as it was an enormous challenge for them to have the inner strength to complete the swim in such cold water conditions.”
Nadine explains that, “Long distance swimming of this sort is often more about the mental strength than the physical. As skins swimmers (swimmers who don’t wear wetsuits), we are always affected by the temperature of the water — even by a point of a degree — and the longer we’re in the water the colder we become. During this swim the temperature was particularly cold for a longer swim, so it was very challenging. The cold water conditions carry the risk of hypothermia, and the support crew had to monitor all the swimmers throughout the swim.”
The actual process involves being taken across the bay to Robben Island in a rubber duck boat. The swimmers swim from the Island back to the shore of Cape Town, a distance of 7.4km. The swimmers, in fact, ended up swimming an additional kilometre because of the impact of the current on the day.
Sharon is hugely thankful for having had the opportunity to realise a childhood dream. “It’s wonderful that I could finally do the Robben Island swim, even at the age of 69!” she concludes.
Starting out as a long distance swimmer: Advice from Nadine Pincus
• Build up fitness through regular distance swimming
• Vary the distances so that you learn to cope with longer distances
• Swim in the ocean so that your body becomes acclimatised to the cold water
Some groups you could join:
• Hotchocolate – Sundays at 09h00 at Camps Bay
• 360ne open water swim
• K8 swimming coaches
• Published in the May 2024 issue – Click here to start reading.
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