A POPULAR event on the Durban swimming calendar, the Dolphin Mile Swim Series, has gone down the toilet this year following unsafe E. coli levels off the coast.
Trevor Martin, organiser of the event, told Berea Mail that six out of nine events were cancelled in this year’s series. Now in its 13th year, the series is run annually from April until August, offering an 800m and 1.6km distance swim between Addington Beach and uShaka Beach.
“In the 13 years the series has been running, the only times the event has been cancelled is during the sardine run, or adverse weather,” said Martin, adding that the series attracts 200–350 participants each year.
Among his concerns is the financial impact of cancellations, which has a knock-on effect.
“The impact financially has been dire. We employ 25 people for each event, including lifeguards and safety staff. Some of them rely on the work,” said Martin who has been running the event for the past three years.
Beach closures have also prevented competitors from training between the nine events in the series.
What’s more, Martin has noted a drop in participation across the three events that did go ahead this year – reflecting a greater issue.
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“We’ve seen our numbers decline because people are scared to swim in the ocean – they are worried about the water quality,” said Martin.
“There are lots of swimming groups that meet along the Beachfront, and people are definitely getting sick,” he added.
There have been several beach closures since the April and May floods wreaked havoc across Durban.
When beaches closed at the beginning of September, eThekwini Municipality spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela responded to a Berea Mail query to say beach closures resulted from poor water quality after the April floods when 97 pump stations were severely damaged. Mayisela added that the Johanna Road pump station had been subject to vandalism.
Martin called for better sewerage maintenance.
“I think we can all accept that the damage from the floods was not the City’s fault. What I am not prepared to accept is that the sewerage infrastructure is old and hasn’t been maintained. Six month after the floods, there is still raw sewage spewing into the oceans,” he said.
Another cancelled even this weekend
Another swimming event that has been cancelled due to high E. coli levels off the coast is Ardagh Glass Packaging (formerly Consol Glass) World Oceans Day swim 2022 which was set to take place on Saturday, September 24. The event was previously cancelled in June when it would have taken place to commemorate World Oceans Day.
Sarah Ferguson, organiser of the event and founder of non-profit organisation Breathe said cancelling the event has had a dire impact.
“As an organisation, we fully rely on the event as our primary fundraiser for the year. We have already had to let staff go as a result of the loss of funding,” she said.
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Ferguson is a well-known professional swimmer who represented South Africa in 2009 at the FINA World Cup in Singapore. She holds a Guinness World Record for becoming the first person to circumnavigate Easter Island, a feat she completed in March 2019.
“As a swimmer, I am training to swim the One Oceans from Durban to Cape Town to raise awareness about ocean conservation, and I have not able to train due to beach closures. It’s very frustrating and disappointing,” said the swimmer.
Ferguson founded Breathe to raise awareness about plastic in the oceans and environmental concerns after witnessing the impact of pollution. The cancellation of Saturday’s event has highlighted the importance of ocean conservation.
“Now more than ever, it shows the importance of protecting the oceans. We hope the municipality addresses this problem – sewage leaks are affecting hotel chains, swimmers and sea lovers. It is a health-and-safety issue now, as well as an environmental and economic issue,” said Ferguson.
The eThekwini Municipality was not available for comment at the time o this article was published.
