Brave swimmers conquer gorge swim
Brave swimmers conquered the Jozini Dam Gorge for CHOC.
FIVE brave open-water swimmers completed the first ever crossing of the hippo and crocodile inhabited Jozini Gorge, raising over R70 000 for the CHOC Childhood Cancer Foundation in the process.
The eight kilometre long swim from the gorge mouth to the Jozini Tiger Lodge was closely monitored by a flotilla of escort boats to ensure the safety of the four men and one woman who undertook the crossing on Sunday, 21 January in two groups.
At 7.45am the first group consisting of Jose De Charmoy, Ruth Azran, Mike Oberholser and Andy Stevens set out. The conditions were perfect with little to no wind and welcome cloud cover. The quicker swimmer, Jay Azran, set off 20 minutes after the main group, and managed to catch them halfway across the gorge.
The group managed to complete the remainder of the swim, making the most of the favourable conditions.
PHOTO: Supplied/Gameplan Media
They arrived at the jetty at the Tiger Lodge, completing the 8km adventure in two hours and 41 minutes to become the first swimmers to complete the Jozini Gorge crossing.
READ RELATED: Brave swimmers to tackle gorge crossing
“We were truly blessed with fantastic conditions, a strong Easterly would have made the swim that much more challenging but luckily this never picked up. We did hit a current with about 1,5km to go but only for a short while. The support from both local and afar has been amazing. It really all came together on the day. I am over the moon!” said Ruth Azran.
Through personal sponsorships and donations the five swimmers raised over R70 000 for the CHOC Childhood Cancer Foundation.
Buoyed by their achievement, they are now planning to make this an annual event.
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