Weather stands in the way of ‘Amphibian Namibian’
Despite a valliant effort, the ‘Amphibian Namibian, Gideon Nasilowski, could not complete the Robben Island Challenge 2021 on Monday because of the weather.
According to his team, the wind and swell were too strong and he was not moving forward for more than 40 minutes.
“We made the call to end the swim approximately 3 km from Big Bay because Gideon was just moving more and more north and not forward, but in total, he swam 9.7 km in 5:21:56, which is still an amazing effort and achievement and this is not the end, we will try again and keep an eye on the Amphibian Namibian in future,” they added.
Gideon said he swims to create awareness for disability in Namibia and the world, as well as source support for other existing Paralympic athletes, to make their journey less challenging than his own was.
“Although I am disabled, I do not stand back for anything or anyone,” said Gideon. He thanked every person and company that contributed to this challenge and what he strives to achieve.
The Robben Island Challenge is a 7.5 km swim from Robben Island to the closest beach at Bloubergstrand just north of Cape Town.
