MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Kay-Lee Mouton (14) is super chuffed to have completed a 7.4 kilometre open water swim to raise funds for the Seabird and Penguin Rehabilitation Centre (SAPREC).
The swim from Robben Island to Blouberg took place on 7 December.
Kay-Lee surpassed her expectation of raising R15 000, bringing in an impressive R21 000 for the seabird centre, based at Mossdustria, outside Mossel Bay.
'Exceptional'
Head of SAPREC, Carol Walton, told Mossel Bay Advertiser: "This exceptional 14 year old swam in the cold Atlantic Ocean through strong currents and was stung. She never gave up her cause to raise funds for SAPREC. We are in awe of you, young lady. If anyone would like to support her amazing feat to raise funds for SAPREC, please donate; she deserves so much support."
For the account details, go to the SAPREC Instagram and Facebook pages. Use "Kay-Lee" as your donation reference.
'Amazing feeling'
Carol said: "It was just such an amazing feeling that this young girl did this for us. I was there. I watched it. She stuck at it, she hung in there."
Kay-Lee was not sure what stung her. "The water was so cold, I could not feel anything." But she had red marks on her neck and her eyes were puffy after the swim.
She told the Advertiser: "It was a brilliant swim and quite an experience, with the cold water - 13 to 14 degrees Celsius."
She said the animal life she saw was incredible. "I thought I would see a bird or two, but I saw many birds and the water was so clear, I could see shellfish at the bottom of the sea and various kinds of jellyfish, as well as a teeny, tiny one with a fluorescent light on it."
Kay-Lee said the excursion was extremely well organised.
"We were a group of nine swimmers, three per boat. I swam with two older guys. They were really supportive and the people on the boat were also well trained. I was the youngest person among the nine swimmers."
To prevent hypothermia, the swimmers were given a sustaining drink incorporating rooibos tea every 30 minutes by the support boat crew.
'Really helpful'
"They were really helpful. I would swim it again any day, Kay-Lee said.
Her next goal is to do the Cape Point open water swim, eight kilometres long.
These open water swims are organised by Big Bay Events, are called the Island Escape swims.
She lives in Moorreesburg, 90km north of Cape Town, near Malmesbury, and attends Dirkie Uys High School in Moorreesburg. The reason she chose SAPREC as her beneficiary is that she and her mother have volunteered for SAPREC before and are impressed by the work the centre does.
‘We bring you the latest Garden Route, Hessequa, Karoo news.’
