Jill swims to Brooklyn Bridge victory
NGN speaks to Jill Hanass-Hancock, a masters record breaker and now winner of the Brooklyn Bridge Swim.
WHEN it comes to swimming, there aren’t enough superlatives that describe Jill Hanass-Hancock. The Glen Hills’ resident recently won the Brooklyn Bridge Swim, a one-kilometre race across the East River from Brooklyn to Manhattan with a time of 14 minutes and 59 seconds.
Incredibly, she was in the USA for the World Aids Conference. The 39-year-old who works at UKZN (Westville Campus) as a researcher, dedicated her win to The Extra Mile initiative which she started.
The initiative calls on anyone wanting to raise awareness or funds for people with disabilities through dedicating their Midmar 2013 swim towards the initiative. All proceeds go to the QuadPara Association.
As if that wasn’t enough for the mother of two, she also broke the 400m individual medley in masters swimming (30 years and over category). Jill also dedicated her two gold medals (3km and mile) at the Lake Eland Mile to the Extra Mile initiative.
“The initiative was formed by academics of the READ (Research, Education, Aids and Disability) group in co-operation with QAK (the Quadpara Association of KwaZulu-Natal),” she said.
Jill said she hopes for more people to join the initiative ahead of the 2013 Midmar Mile. For more information visit www.e-mile.org or contact Jill on 072 019 6216.
