Pelser and Bruce beat record field at World Ocean Day Swim

Saturday morning dawned clear and cool for the record entry at the World Ocean Day Swim at the Durban Beach Club.

The event was enthusiastically supported with a large entry of 425 swimmers, well up on the 298 who participated in 2023.

The event was swum to raise funds for the Breathe Ocean Conservation non-profit marine conservation organisation, which founded in 2018 by former competitive swimmer Sarah Ferguson. She was thrilled with the turnout.

"I'm blown away. I can't believe how many swimmers there were. I didn't expect it, and I am really stoked. It's a record for Durban for open water swimming," she said, after finishing third in the women's 5km swim.

Last year, the money raised was used to teach 200 learners about marine ecology. This year, that's going to happen on an even bigger scale, thanks to the success of the event.

"We were budgeting for 350 people. Now there's 425, which is phenomenal. There's a lot of new people, which is great. A lot of people from inland, including Johannesburg and Pietermaritzburg. The enthusiasm is fantastic," commented the event organiser Trevor Martin.

"I think open water swimming is growing in KZN. Obviously, from our perspective, we use the Dolphin Mile to drive the growth. DUC has grown immensely, and this cause is my passionate event of the year, which I run for Sarah (Ferguson) and Breathe Ocean Conservation. It's going from strength to strength."

Four distances were contested – 800m, 1.6km, 3.2km and 5km – with the 1.6km event being the most popular choice. The competitors didn't shy away from the longest event either, with around 90 swimmers taking on the 5km distance.

PELSER TAKES MEN'S 5KM WIN

The victory in the men's 5km event went the way of Matthew Pelser, who swam a lone race most of the way.

"It was a lot of fun," he reckoned. "It started out really fast, but the water was perfect. You couldn't really ask for better conditions, apart from how cold it was.

"For the first 500m, I was with someone. After that, I swam with a lifesaver the whole way."

Pelser said he enjoyed swimming for a cause, too: "I don't think people really understand just how bad the state of the ocean is these days, so we need swims like these to raise awareness. It's really important and I wish we could have more of them."

BRUCE RULES WOMEN'S 5KM EVENT

The women's 5km winner was Tayla Bruce, who looked fresh after her swim, but said it had been demanding: "It was very cold when we got in, but it got better. It was fine for about 400m of the race, but then it picked up and was pretty choppy for the entire race. It was quite a hard swim, but it was good."

Bruce said she was nervous heading into the event, because her training wasn't quite where she wanted it to be, but it worked out well. "I wanted to win, and I got it, but it was more of a training thing, and it was good for my training."

Like the men's winner, Matthew Pelser, she said she felt inspired by swimming for a cause. "I started swimming in the ocean four years ago, and doing all of these little swims makes me realise we need to look after it. We swim in such beautiful waters, but we need to look after them. It's nice to know you're swimming for something. It motivates you a little bit more," she said.

Trevor Martin sounded enthusiastic when he concluded: "I think the message about conserving our oceans is getting across, but more needs to be done.

"As you can see, we have very few sponsors. We run this on small sponsorships. Our aim would be to get a big corporate sponsor that fits into this space and believes in saving the oceans. It is growing. It is definitely growing."

SELECTED RESULTS

5km

Male

1 Matthew Pelser 01:10:47

2 Jake Borrageiro 01:13:33

3 Gary Albertyn 01:14:54

4 Wayne Willetts 01:16:34

5 Nathan Fouche 01:19:06

Female

1 Tayla Bruce 01:17:14

2 Tasnim Nabbie 01:22:49

3 Sarah Ferguson 01:22:58