Sharks, specifically Great White Sharks, have always had a special place in the hearts of ocean swimmers.

For those ocean swimmers who were movie goers in 1975 when the American movie JAWS came out, and the subsequent generations of open water swimmers, the thought of swimming near a Great White Shark can be scarily intimidating, alarmingly terrifying, and shockingly frightening.

That being a fact among ocean swimmers, the allure of swimming across False Bay in South Africa continues to draw interest from marathon swimmers. This growing list of swimmers who have crossed the 33 km bay, a body of water inhabited by the feared sharks, include:

• Annemie Landmeters of Belgium in 1989
• Steven Klugman of South Africa in 2004
• Carina Bruwer of South Africa in 2006
• Barend Nortje of South Africa in 2007
• Ned Denison of Ireland in 2012
• Ryan Stramrood of South Africa in 2021
• Ross Duncan of South Africa in 2022
• Simon Ince of South Africa in 2022
• Kyle Stephens of South Africa in 2022
• Katherine Persson of South Africa in 2022
• Shubham Dhananjay Vanmali of India in 2023
• Linda Thompson of South Africa in 2023

Theater goers and fans of the movie – as well as open water swimmers – can soon enjoy the Broadway debut of The Shark Is Broken, a play presented at the John Golden Theatre in New York City for a 16-week run from August 10th.

The comedy was previously shown in both London’s West End and Toronto, and co-written by Joseph Nixo and Ian Shaw who also stars in the plan. Ian carries on the legacy of the JAWS star and his late father Robert Shaw – who played Quint in the movie.

For more information and tickets, visit here.

The play is described as, “The open ocean, 1974. Production on Jaws is delayed…again. The film’s lead actors—theatre veteran Robert Shaw and young Hollywood hotshots, Richard Dreyfuss and Roy Scheider—are crammed into a too-small boat, entirely at the mercy of foul weather and a faulty mechanical co-star. Alcohol flows, egos collide, and tempers flare on a chaotic voyage that just might lead to cinematic magic…if it doesn’t sink them all.”

The three actors – Colin Donnell as Roy Scheider, Ian Shaw as Robert Shaw, and Alex Brightman as Richard Dreyfuss – have an uncanny resemblance to the original actors in the 1975 blockbuster. Photo below © Matthew Murphy.

© 2023 Daily News of Open Water Swimming – “to educate, enthuse, and entertain all those who venture beyond the shore“