I arrived in Cape Town on the Thursday before the swim, writes David 'Shark Bait' Harley and went to the swimmers briefing in the evening. We were told that in the previous few days, the water had been quite cold, in the region of 10-11C. As there were an exceptional proportion of 1st time solo swimmers (40 out of the 73 skins solos) they made us aware that if the temp did not increase over the next 24 hours, we would be forced to swim in 2 or 3 person relays. By 3pm the next day, the water temp was averaging below 11C across the route and the relay option was forced on to the 1st time solo swimmers. This was very disappointing, but it was the correct decision with the information and resources the organisers had at the time.Although I was disappointed with not being able to attempt the solo, one small silver lining was the fact that late last year, I had convinced my old NSRI station commander, Keryn van der Walt, to attempt a solo with me so naturally we formed a relay team.We met up at the Waterfront to do the final registration on Saturday morning at 07h00 to be greeted by a thick fog. We were told to launch and wait just outside the harbour so we split up and Keryn, who was doing the 1st leg, went to the ferry and I went to the small boat harbour to launch with our support crew.
The start was delayed by quite some time and eventually at 10h30 we were given the go ahead to head to the island. At approximately 11h10 Keryn set off from the harbour on Robben Island. Water temp was around 11.5C. After 45min we swopped out. The water was pretty cold but there sun had come out and it was fairly pleasant overall. After about 30 min, I realised that I probably could’ve completed the solo and was a little disappointed when my 45 min was up. Keryn cracked on and by this stage the water temp was in the high 13C.
There were reports of a whale sighting along the route but we didn’t see it. There were a few seals and the odd penguin. We didn’t talk about the other wildlife that doesn’t get mentioned by name…When it was my turn to get back in, we had less than a mile to go. We gave Keryn the option of continuing as both relay team mates had to finish the swim and it didn’t make sense for her to get out and get cold only to get back in after 20min or so.In retrospect, she probably should’ve got out because although the straight line was 0.8 NM, the current was the strongest there. Also, the water temp dropped to about 11C for the last stretch. It really seemed to take forever to get to the beach and I was pretty cold by the time we stumbled up the beach. The time was 3 hours and 3 seconds.
Keryn was slightly hypothermic at this stage after basically completing ¾ of the swim but there was excellent medical care at the Big Bay Lifesaving Club. We were given hot chocolate and there were plenty of gas heaters. Each swimmers was checked by a doctor and were not allowed to leave until our core temp had returned to normal.So after all was said and done, while I didn’t get to complete the solo, I can always go back and try again. It was great to do the relay with an old friend.
We also managed to raise just over £400 for the Nelson Mandela’s Children Fund. (This is still open if anyone wants to contribute - )My trip to Cape Town was finished off with a nice 25 min swim in about 11C and fairly big seas at Camps Bay with the resident cold water club, The Sunday Hot Chocolate swimming group, where I had the great pleasure to meet Jackie Cobell and some of the Nemes Nutters.
The Serpentine Lido operated by the Royal Parks is open from 10:00 am - 6:00 pm (last entry 5:30pm) every day in June, July and August. Call 020 7706 3422 for further information and bookings
David Harley
Yours swimmingly
[John Tierney]
