South Africa’s Theodore Yach and Martin Goodman will attempt to become the first swimmers to complete a 35 km swim from Hout Bay to Robben Island later this month.
If they complete the estimated 12 to 15 hour swim, they will swim past Seal Island – a breeding ground for sharks. But the more likely obstacles will be blue-bottle jellyfish, shipping traffic and the changing currents and cold temperatures of the Atlantic Ocean. “We hope the public will get behind our efforts by donating to The Ripple Effect, a charity which raises funds for underprivileged children living on the Cape’s West Coast,” said Yach. “The programme has been running successfully for two years and enables children to attend a basic water safety, swimming and life skills course.”
Like many unprecedented swims and crossings around the world, the first attempt at this same swim was not successful.
In 2010, Yach failed his attempt at this swim due to very rough conditions (see old promo poster above). He assessed the situation and asked Goodman to join him for a second attempt. “Martin is young and very strong so the combination of my experience and his youth should see us through,” Yach quipped.
The pair plans to keep pace with one another in the water, having trained and completed several Robben Island to Big Bay and Three Anchor Bay crossings together. “The week before the swim will be mostly rest, interrupted by some light swims. The difficulty is setting the date due to changing weather conditions, but we should have enough mileage stored in our shoulders by the day of the swim,” Yach said of his charity swim.
“This is a real challenge for me so I relish the chance to test myself by going longer and further than I have ever gone before. I am excited to have the opportunity to swim next to the guru of open water swimming,” said Goodman of Yach. Yach’s autobiography, In My Element, detailing his open water swimming career dating back to the 1980s, was published last year.
Yach’s longest swim to date is the 34 km English Channel which he completed in 14 hours 25 minutes. Goodman’s longest swim is a 15 km double crossing from Robben Island to Blouberg.
For more information, visit here. You can like the Facebook page of the swim (Swim4Charity) to watch live updates on the day of the swim.
Copyright © 2013 by Open Water Swimming