Despite passing some wonderful swimming milestones last year, they did not extinguish my burning desire to complete the Freedom Swim in South Africa, so frustratingly cancelled by organisers on the eve of the event last year. I once read that a distinguishing attribute of open water swimmers is that, when they see a stretch of water, be it a lake, pond or pool, they just have to swim it. The swim becomes something of an ear worm that can only be dislodged by actually completing the swim.
For me, the Freedom Swim is one such aquatic ‘ear worm’ and I have commenced ‘dislodging’ this invasive annelid and booked to complete the swim on 4th April 2020.
The annual Freedom Swim is a 7.5km open water swim from the former prison of Nelson Mandella on Robben Island to Bloubergstrand on the African mainland. The swim is described as the ‘Everest of open water swimming’ due to the challenging conditions as well as its long history. Lewis Pugh, the ultra-marathon, ice water swimmer, summed up the challenge thus: “there is no such thing as an easy Robben Island swim. They are all tough. It is a swim that challenges you to the core”.
The Freedom Swim takes place at the confluence of two oceans, The Atlantic and Indian, and is framed by Cape Town’s fabled Lion Rock and Table Mountain.
There is much to prepare for and I have started a gruelling training program including 12kms per week of open water swimming, gym training, night swimming and ice baths.
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