Summerveld swimmer breaks barriers

SUMMERVELD resident Sam Kruger will be giving a motivational talk at a community fun day which will be held on Monday, September 25.

The renowned swimmer swam the English channel last year and will share her experience, as well as tips on how to makes your dreams a reality.

This was made possible by residents after her first attempt was cancelled halfway through due to poor weather. The community pulled together and raised R90 000 almost overnight to pay the costs for a second attempt, which was successful.

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She said this was amazing and heartwarming, showing true South African generosity.

“I got donations from people I have never met. It was a very humbling experience which made my dreams come true,” she said.

Kruger said she has been a competitive sportswoman her entire life.

“Swimming has been my main passion for the majority of my life. Until university, I focused on pool swimming, with the 200m breaststroke being my main event. I had many successes with this by making many provincial and national teams over the years.

“Being a sportswoman has thus become a way of life for me. Needing a change from pool swimming, I discovered my love of open-water swimming in my mid-30s. Living in Natal, Midmar was soon on my radar, so I participated in many Midmar 16-Mile events over the years.”

She said her highlight of this era was definitely her podium finish at the Fina World Champs in 2019, in the 3 000m Open Water Event.

Then it was time for something new – marathon swimming. Marathon swims are anything over 25km.

“I began researching the Oceans 7 Series which entails crossing seven different channels of water, in a variety of near-impossible circumstances, all over the world. The most commercial and popular of these is the English Channel, which I entered. In 2023, after three years of focused training, it was my turn.”

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She said the weather in the UK is at its warmest and most serene typically during the month of August, which is when she booked her swim for.

She attempted her first crossing on August 9 – Women’s Day in South Africa.

“Whatsapp and Facebook groups were buzzing with a team of supporters both locally and abroad. The weather was cold and windy with my planned ‘gap’ in the weather, and there was still an angry sea with a huge residual swell. The sea temp was just barely 16, dropping to under that in places with an ambient temperature of about the same, which didn’t help.

“With these factors and a few others, it was just not my day. After reaching 21km, and swimming for 5 and a half hours, hypothermia got the better of me.”

That night, after really dissecting the unsuccessful crossing all day and reeling with sadness and disappointment, Kruger received a message from her friend, Marelize. It read: ‘You have two weeks left in the UK; try again; I know you can do it’.

“My immediate thought was that a second attempt would be amazing, but I knew that our pockets were dried up as the very basic fees to cross the channel are R100 000. With all the preceding bad weather, channel pilots where booked up, with them even taking swimmers out on their off days. It would never happen. Nice thought, though,” she recalls.

She woke up on Thursday, August 10 to literally hundreds of messages on her Whatsapp Channel Group.

“My friends and family were behind me; by the early hours of the morning, they had already managed to raise over half the money needed! Now I needed to get my head together and arrange a pilot!”

Striving against all odds

So, she opted for a wetsuit swim, which is not ratified but is still a registered English Channel Swim.

“I had not even taken a wetsuit along to the UK as I didn’t even know that a wetsuit swim was an option. Once again, my support team rose to the challenge. There were zero options for failure for my team, and within 24 hours, an order had been placed for a suitable wetsuit, which was hand delivered to me by my great friends in Dover!”

Before she even knew what was happening, she was standing at the harbour in Dover, at 22:00 on August 17.

“To say I was nervous would not even begin to describe how I was feeling. I was gagging, nauseous, light-headed and wanted to faint. I really didn’t think I could do it. My husband had complete faith in me; he never doubted me for a second, almost getting angry at me for my lack of self-belief. I remember him saying that to me at one stage during the night,” said Kruger.

After some convincing, her supportive husband, Ethan, helped her to pull herself together, and they climbed onto the boat.

“We set out on the 80-minute sail to reach Dover Harbour, where the swim officially starts.”

At around 11:30 on Thursday, August 16, in 10 hours and 48 minutes, she touched French soil.

“I swam a really good time! Far faster than I had even dared to dream – the second fastest South African woman. Sadly, due to the wetsuit, it is classified as an assisted swim, so no official records or time can be recorded. But I had made it, and I was really proud of how deep I had dug to get there,” she said.

To hear more about this inspirational woman, the public is invited to a fun day at 8 Key Ridge Road, Assagay, where she will give a talk at 12:00.

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