Local woman achieves a South African first
PAULSHOF – Local resident and musician Kieran Ballard-Tremeer successfully completed the 14.5km swim around Palm Jumeirah Island in Dubai recently in a time of 04:25:00.
Ballard-Tremeer is now the first woman to swim around Palm Jumeirah.
She moved at a good pace through the warm, salty waters of the Persian Gulf and passed some of the most exclusive real estate in Dubai, including the impressive Atlantis Hotel.
She has also completed the Bosphorus Cross Continental Swim, four Ironman triathlons, and is an age group podium finisher in this year’s Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne Biathle held in Dubai, which is a sub-sport of the modern pentathlon.
Mitch Kennedy from Australia and Tobias Frenz from Germany also swam around Palm Jumeirah and they joined the very small elite group of swimmers who have achieved this swim. Kennedy is the youngest person at only 18.
The very first person to swim around Palm Jumeirah was British athlete Jamie Atherton in 2009. Kate Willoughby, the first person to swim around the world off the coast of Dubai in 2012, was there to support the swimmers on the day.
Ballard-Tremeer is a saxophonist and a clarinetist, and currently teaches music in Dubai. She has played with numerous musicians on international stages such as Luciano Pavarotti, Hugh Masekela and The Corrs.
The swim was in aid of Red Crescent, a humanitarian charity in the United Arab Emirates which is part of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. The organisation took her donation and shared it among victims of the recent earthquakes in Nepal.
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