Endurance swimming legend and World Record holder Sarah Ferguson is inviting swimmers to Durban’s waters for what she calls the biggest competition of all—beating plastic pollution!
Durban, South Africa (07 May, 2024)—Durban’s Sarah Ferguson has made South Africa proud countless times. From tackling some of South Africa’s most challenging endurance and open water swims to becoming the first African woman to conquer the ‘Valley of Bones and all her activism against plastic pollution, the world record holder is a certified water and eco-warrior.
In light of World Ocean Day, Sarah is rallying other swimmers to come together in Durban on 8 June as part of what she believes is the biggest competition of all—beating plastic pollution.
The former international swimmer is inviting fellow ocean swimmers to join her at the World Ocean Day Swim at the Durban Beach Club, where various options of distance will be on the cards. These range from the 800m through the traditional Mile or 1.6km, up to a testing 3.2km and the 5km stretch.
Beyond raising awareness as symbols of activism through sport, all the proceeds from the event will head to Breathe Conservation, Sarah’s locally-based non-profit marine conservation organisation that focuses on reducing and eliminating single-use plastics.
The Breathe Conservation motto of “Live Deeply, Tread Lightly” aims to inspire future generations to reconnect with nature by providing education resources and running monthly beach and reef clean-ups, amongst other events like the World Ocean Day Swim.
“The swim is really for ocean lovers to have an event that is going to create awareness for plastic pollution,” says Sarah. “As a swimmer, I want to raise awareness for my sport, but I also want to offer a swim in honour of World Ocean Day, and so help create an awareness about why we should protect the oceans.
“This is an opportunity to showcase our beautiful ocean, but more than ever it is a way to highlight why it is so important to protect it. The ocean is faced with so many challenges, especially in Durban with the sewerage, with the floods, with plastic pollution, and with marine life getting caught in the fishing nets and the shark nets.
“It is really valuable to have something like World Oceans Day, which is a global day that recognises the Oceans and recognises the importance of it in our lives, and be able to co-ordinate with that.”
Entries for the World Ocean Day Swim can be found here, while more information about Breathe can be found at breatheconservation.org!
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