Facing the Waves at Sterkfontein Swim

We thought it was a nice slogan, and this year Sterkfontein said, “Hold my flavoured water that has a fancy name in an unnatural colour and watch this.”

If open water swimming had a Polly Shortts… Comrades reference for you… well, I guess any uphill would be the Sterkfontein 1500 m.

This year was a tough one.

I’ll start with a massive, massive well done to everyone — from the oldest entry of 73 years young to the youngest of 6 years old, and everyone in between. I can’t put into words how hard this year was, and yet everyone did incredibly well.

Let’s chat about the 3km (3000m).

Not a bad start to the day. Windy, but doable — at least for the first lap. Then, well… the uphill came.

The wind — we knew the wind would be a factor later in the day. We hoped for more gusting winds, but NO — a constant 55 to 65 km/h non-stop.

The first swimmers came around for the first lap in about 22–24 minutes and the conditions were amazing. For a handful of swimmers, it was just too much and they bailed out — no harm, no foul. Honestly, we all understood.

We still had one of the best 3km events in years, so a big thank you and well done. You deserve to be part of the Sterkfontein 3KM CLUB.

On a slightly sad note for some (not so much for the many that gave a cheer), we had to make a call to reduce the distance for the 1500 m. Yes, it’s unfortunate, but we had to consider the swimmers AND the lifesaving team. A few people didn’t realise that we need to consider them as well — not to sound rude, but a bit more than the swimmers. Remember, if the lifesaver can’t see you, they can’t help you.

So after a lot of back and forth with the lifesaving team, we had to make the call to reduce the main event and fun swim to much shorter distances. At the end of the day, we all felt this was the correct call — everyone got wet, and that was the goal.

To the schools and coaches that attended, to every swimmer and supporter who came from Durban, Pietermaritzburg, Howick, North West, Limpopo, Northern Cape, Mpumalanga, Gauteng, the Free State, and even international swimmers from the UK — a huge thank you to every one of you who came out to Sterkfontein.

And the partners:

I say partners and not sponsors, because you all made it possible to host the swim again.

I’ll start with the Swim4life team, always pushing to make the event happen, the Professional Lifesaving Services — great job on the water — and the medical team from Busamed Hospital.

Everyone at Bergview One Stop, Wimpy, Rocky Mountain Spur, Lighthouse Café, The Guinea Fowl, and Panarottis.

From the town and the surrounding area: Art Stat, De Sign, ATKV, Voortrekkers, Sunny and Chev, Classic Print, Spar Harrismith, Case Harrismith, Afgri Equipment Harrismith, Shell Harrismith and the Animal Shelter.

If we forgot anyone, please let us know.

Again, massive THANK YOU to everyone.

See you again at the water’s edge.

Samantha Lee Ackerman

Swim4life
GreenFire Drakensberg