No river too deep for Priscilla
2005-11-24
Leon Steenkamp
A Paarlite’s participation in a gruelling open water swimming challenge has changed her forever.
Priscilla Neethling of Paarl is one of six swimmers who battled the extreme elements during the 12-day Windhoek Light Orange River Challenge.
It was the first ever open water event for this 34-year-old veteran swimmer who teaches at Charleston Hill Secondary.
“I usually compete in the 400m and 800m free style and breast-stroke events,” explains Priscilla, a member of the Winelands Masters Swimming Club who also coaches at the Paarl Aquarius Swimming Club.
It is the second year the Orange River Challenge was held in an effort to raise funds for the Heart Foundation.
The six swimmers - Neethling, Ram Barkai, Cheryl Young, Jenny O’Hanlon, Gavin Pike and Andrew Chin - aided by a support crew and joined by a media contingent, took up the challenge of swimming the 585km from the Lesotho/South African border down to Hopetown in the Northern Cape on 22 October.
The six swam in relay from dawn to sunset every day, sometimes spending 14 hours either swimming or paddling to ensure they met their daily distance targets.
“We started swimming at 05:00 and finished at 19:00 in the evening taking turns to swim for 20 minutes.
The team tried to average a swimming distance of 50km a day.
“If the support crew got to the camping site before we did, they’d set up our tents, but because access to the river was so difficult in some places we had to erect our own tents most of the time,” says Priscilla.
She adds that thanks to a bit of innovation on her part she slept the most comfortably of the lot.
“I packed in my blow-up mattress, but the rest of the guys slept on these thin foam matresses,” she says with a smile.
If they were lucky and had an “early night” Priscilla and her teammates got under the covers at 20:00 to get some well deserved sleep before their 04:00 wake-up call.
“While one of us swam, the rest of the team was divided by twos into kayaks. The odd one out had to row alongside the swimmer as part of our safety regulations,” explains Priscilla.
“Whilst in the river we tried to give a little extra and make use of the strong water flow.
“The flow helped us to achieve about 2km in 20 minutes whereas swimming through the Gariep and Van der Kloof dams we could only average 1km in 20 minutes.
At times they faced daily water temperatures of around 14 degrees, extremely muddy water, strong winds, powerful rapids and large swells, and frequent electric storms.
They all sustained minor cuts, bruises and other injuries and their guide suffered first degree burns during an accident while boiling water.
In spite of the obvious rigorous effort that went into completing this great task, Priscilla says she will jump at the chance to do it again.
“The day we finished, I was actually quite sad because this mind blowing experience had come to an end.”
Although they were there to swim, Priscilla says they had more than enough time to admire the beauty of their surroundings.
“The splendour of nature is fantastic. We saw so many eagles and beautiful places that few people get to see in their lifetime.
“If I get the chance to again be part of the Orange River Challenge, I’ll definitely do it.”
As far as breaking out of the concrete confines of a swimming pool is concerned, Priscilla says she will still compete in the shorter distances - “just to keep myself busy”.
She adds however that she has discovered a new passion in the form of open water - that is swimming in rivers, dams and the ocean.
“I’m already planning to swim to Robben Island in March next year. I have not yet swum any distance in the ocean and then there is of course my fear of sharks that I need to overcome,” she says with a
nervous laugh.
More
News
|
