Florida swimmer completes eight miles for the rhino
'I have always wanted to complete eight miles'
The 16-year-old Daniella Paro completed an exceptional feat at this year’s Midmar Mile, when she realised her dream of joining the 8-Mile club.
Daniellam, who is a Grade 11 learner at St Catherine’s Convent, swam her first event in 2013 and had completed a distance of 33 miles before lining up at the starting line of this year’s event, “It has always been a dream of mine to complete all eight events and join the 8-Mile Club.”
But, she did not only swim eight miles in the Midmar Dam, she also used the opportunity to raise some much-needed funds for the Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife Save-the-Rhino Campaign. “I chose this organisation because of my love for wildlife and because the rhino’s plight has always been close to my heart. I managed to raise a total of R13 850,” Daniella explained.
She is part of the Swim School in Florida and trains with them throughout the year. “We swim at the Florida North swimming pool. During the summer months we train up to four times a week, and we also participate in various open water swimming events,” Daniella said.
Daniella said that her Midmar experience was quite a pleasant one this year, even though the weather did try to interfere on the second day.”It was an amazing weekend, and even though the storm clouds tried to rain on our parade on the second day, it quickly cleared up and we were able to complete all our swims. There was a great vibe and lots of support between all the 8-Mile swimmers. It was really an awesome experience and I look forward to next years’ event.”
She concluded by saying, “I still can’t believe that my dream finally came true. I just want to thank the amazing coaches from the Swim School, my family and my friends for all their support, and all my generous sponsors who helped me reach my fundraising goal.”
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