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South Africa Swim Series
noun - The Freedom Swim - Swim Series (formerly, the South Africa Swim Series) is a series of cold water ocean swims in Cape Town, South Africa owned and operated by Ram Barkai. The series promotes swimming and raises funds for good causes. The swims takes place on a public holiday specifically to celebrate these significant days and South Africa’s history and heritage. The Swim Series aims to raise awareness of the significance of these public holidays and to give back by raising funds for causes which are related to these national public holidays. Some of the swims in the South Africa Swim Series are qualifiers for the Freedom Swim.
Contents
South Africa Swim Series
The Freedom Swim - Swim Series includes the Brian Curtis Mile, Human Rights Day Swim, Freedom Swim, Youth Day Swim, Women's Day Swim and Heritage Day Swim.
Contact
- Email link
- info@leapcommunications
- Call +27 (0) 21 785 3683.
Video
Freedom Swim - Swim Series
Brian Curtis Mile
A 200m, 1 mile and 3 km swim held at the Grabouw - Elgin Country Club in the Western Cape. The event was started in 1999 in memory of Brian Curtis, one of the founding directors of Cadiz Holdings Limited, in 1994. As a director of Cadiz, Curtis' main role was to implement and develop Cadiz Securities' fixed income research and brokering business. He was one of the founding directors of Cadiz Holdings Limited and a keen swimmer who died tragically in a motorcycle accident in 1998.
Human Rights Day Swim
A 3 km solo race on 21 March each year at Clifton 4th beach. Its categories include Males – open, Females – open, Males 40+ and Females 40+.
Human Rights Day commemorates the gunning down of demonstrators by police in Sharpeville and aims at promoting respect for human rights, the protection, development and attainment of human rights, and to monitor and assess the observance of human rights in South Africa. Its beneficiary is Sisters Incorporated, a shelter for abused women and children.
Freedom Swim
A 7.5 km solo and relay race from Robben Island to Bloubergstrand, Big Bay that commemorates the first democratic elections held on 27 April 1994. The date of the event is close to Freedom Day every year with a contingency date.
Its categories include Solos – non wetsuit, Relays – wetsuit, Relays – non wetsuit, Relays – schools and Relays – corporates. Its beneficiary is the Vista Nova School for Children with Cerebral Palsy and/or other learning disorders. Vista Nova School cares for 400 children with special needs from all over the Cape Peninsula. Remedial education and therapies are provided to learners from the age of three to eighteen, spanning from nursery school right through to Grade 12. Many of the children have learning barriers, are physically challenged or have cerebral palsy. Teachers and therapists work together to ensure that all children are empowered to perform to the best of their abilities, leading happy and productive lives.
Youth Day Swim
3 km solo race on 16 June each year at Camps Bay Beach.
Youth Day commemorates the uprising against Bantu Education in the mid-1970s and the Youth Day Swim raises funds for the education of disadvantaged youths. Its beneficiary is The Homestead. The Homestead helps educate and re-integrate street children into communities and also operates the Elukhuselweni Children’s Home in Khayelitsha for children who are unable to be re-integrated.
Women's Day Swim
4 km relay race on 9 August each year at Camps Bay Beach.
Women's Day commemorates 9 August 1956 when women participated in a national march to petition against pass laws (legislation that required African persons to carry a document on them to prove that they were allowed to enter a white area). Its beneficiary is the Cerebral Palsy Women from The Western Cape Cerebral Palsy Association, a non-profit organisation catering for the diagnosis, treatment, care, training and sheltered employment for persons with Cerebral Palsy, to advise, aid and train parents and guardians in the care of their dependants and to manage clinics, care centres, residences, work centres and places of employment and developmental services for persons with Cerebral Palsy.
Heritage Day Swim
A 2.5 km / 5 km solo race on 24 September each year at Oceana Power Boat Club. The 5 km solo race is a qualifier for the Freedom Swim. Its categories for the 5 km solo swim include Male – open, Female – open, Male 40+ and Female 40+. Its categories for the 2.5 km solo is Male - open, Female - open, Male 40+ and Female 40+.
Heritage Day celebrates South African culture in the form of creative expression, our historical inheritance, language, the food we eat, the land in which we live, the sum total of wild life and scenic parks, sites of scientific or historical importance, national monuments, historic buildings, works of art, literature and music, oral traditions and museum collections together with their documentation. Its beneficiary is NOAH (Neighbourhood Old Age Homes).
Prizes
First place in each category win prizes compliments of Speedo. Wetsuit competitors are welcome, but not eligible for prizes.
