Oceans 8 swimmers go extra mile to raise R800 000 for charities

Durban — Perfect weather, a clean sweep for Kloof open water swimmer Matt Pelser, a first-time entry from Lamontville Swimming Academy: it all added up to a gr8 day in the ocean for charity, raising more than R800 000.

Pelser, 21, won all eight events over the weekend and raised R5 920 for the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI).

The Oceans 8 Charity Swim is an open-water swim, organised exclusively by charities for charities.

“The conditions couldn’t have been better. This is becoming one of my favourite swims. The people running the event, the event itself, and the fact everyone is swimming to raise money for wonderful charities is just amazing,” said Pelser who competes as a national open water swimmer.

He said he was constantly training so preparing for the Oceans 8 Charity Swim was not difficult.

He said each win felt amazing but his favourite “most satisfying” swim was the third race on the first day.

“I was swimming against a great competitor. We were very close to each other, I enjoyed it,” said Pelser.

Competing for the first time thanks to generous anonymous donors were Lamontville Swimming Academy members Mongameli Nxumalo, Siphesihle Mkhize, Musawenkosi Gumede and Siphesihle Msomi under the guidance of coach and academy founder Lungisani Zulu.

Zulu said they had not had any sponsorship since the academy opened last year.

“We’ve usually used our pocket money with help of other colleagues and here and there,” he said.

Oceans 8 Charity Swim spokesperson Hilary Bruss praised the “incredible development swimmers” from the academy for doing so well.

“Their entries were all sponsored by anonymous donors, just one of the many ways we got to witness awesome camaraderie, support, and encouragement on the day.”

Zulu said the ocean swim was “a big thing” for the academy which is training 70 children between the ages of five and 19 from the area.

He said the different age groups had their own coach, each vetted to “make sure they are able to work with children and the community. We are careful about who we bring in”.

His vision was for Lamontville to produce a swimmer who would compete at the Olympics. Zulu said a high proportion of Durban life guards were from Lamontville.

“This tells you there is potential so why not train some people to take us to another level?”

Zulu expressed gratitude to the community of Lamontville and the parents for their support.

The charity event saw 172 swimmers compete in the 1 Mile, 4 Mile and 8 Mile events, raising more than R800 000 for 14 local charities with donations still coming in last week.

Russell Munroe, 49, from Fourways in Gauteng was the top fund-raiser, collecting R42 080 for Singakwenza Early Childhood Education.

Bruss said it took a lot of collaboration to make the event a success. The founding charities are Duzi Umngeni Conservation Trust (www.duct.org.za), National Sea Rescue Institute (www. nsri.org.za), Project Rhino (www.projectrhinokzn.org) and Singakwenza Early Childhood Education (www. singakwenza.co.za)

Independent on Saturday