Thina Mananyetso is determined to conquer this challenging event – she started learning to swim in 2019 and more recently started open water swimming – but with a little help from extreme swimmer Ryan Stramrood, ‘curious’ Thina will do it!
Johannesburg, South Africa (14 April 2021) – Adventurous sportspeople in Gauteng are readying themselves for Torpedo SwimRun Moon, a swimrun event that takes place on Sunday 25 April at Cradle Moon Lakeside Reserve in Muldersdrift.
SwimRun is different from triathlon in that there is no transition between the multiple running and swimming segments – athletes run in their costumes/wetsuits, and they swim in their running shoes. There are accessories allowed, such as hand paddles and specified flotation devices, and athletes must start and finish with the same equipment.
Mother of three, 38-year-old Thina Mananyetso, is determined to conquer this challenging event – she started learning to swim in 2019 and more recently started open water swimming – but with a little help from extreme swimmer Ryan Stramrood, ‘curious’ Thina will do it!
Thina is from Limpopo and lives in Witbank. She is an accomplished runner, having completed her first of two Comrades in 2018. In 2017 she had set her mind on doing Comrades despite never having run further than 21kms, so although she only started learning to swim in 2019, she is determined to achieve a finish at Torpedo SwimRun Moon.
“Where I come from in Venda, there were just no swimming pools in our schools, and we never learnt. I am just a curious person, and I like to challenge myself to new things, so I started learning to swim in 2019. I attended the Moon Tour a couple of weeks ago, and I only managed to complete the first swim, but I have been training, and I am going to return and conquer this event.”
Well known extreme swimmer and inspirational speaker Ryan Stramrood heard of Thina’s ambition and has committed to assisting her at the event.

The record holder for the most number of crossings between Robben Island and the mainland says he is very keen to support Thina as she has set her mind to do something that seems impossible.
“Thina has achieved her impossible before by doing Comrades, and I will swim with her just to give her the confidence to do the swims.”
“Thina and Ryan really embody what swim-run is all about,” says Richard McMartin, co-founder of Torpedo SwimRun. “Ryan has done three of our SwimRun events, including the two most challenging ones in the Cape, and we are thrilled that he will be taking part at Moon in order to help Thina. When Thina struggled at the tour, and we saw her determination to do this event, we contacted Ryan to see if he could help. Thina can swim, she has done the distances required, but she just needs that confidence in the open water.”
“I can’t believe that Ryan has agreed to swim with me. It’s like a dream to have a swimmer like him want to help me. With all the support I have, I know I can do it,” says Thina.
Olympic silver medallist, deaf swimmer Terence Parkin, will be taking part at the Moon event. He has won 32 medals in the Deaf Olympics and is an ambassador for the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation. He came second in the first Gauteng Torpedo SwimRun event that took place in 2019.
The Torpedo SwimRun Cape event is taking place this weekend on 11 April on Cape Town’s Atlantic Seaboard.
Keep an eye on Torpedo SwimRun social media to watch the event unfold. Further information is available at www.torpedoswimrun.com.
