Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

Camps Bay Beach is an affluent suburb of Cape Town, South Africa.

Big Bay Events hosts the Women’s Day Swim there every year on August 9th to commemorate the events of 1956 when women participated in a national march to petition against pass laws. This legislation required African persons to carry a document on them to prove that they were allowed to enter a white area.

More than 50,000 women staged a march in Pretoria to protest against the proposed amendments to the Urban Areas Act (commonly known as the pass laws) of 1950. They petitioned the prime minister, stood silently outside his office, and sang a protest song that has come to represent women’s courage and strength.

Men and women can enter a team of up to 4 swimmers to swim 2 miles (4 x 800m loops) for a fun relay swim celebrating Woman’s Day. Each team must include at least one lady.

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