‘It was tough’: Liezel van der Westhuizen swims 7.5km for charity [watch]
‘At this point I was feeling anxious & nervous, and I missed my dad’: Liezel van der Westhuizen swam from Robben Island to Blouberg.
Actress, model and presenter Liezel van der Westhuizen selflessly embarked on a cause to raise funds for the NSRI Safety, Education & Survival Swimming Programme on Thursday 21 April.
The Kfm 94.5 radio presenter swam from Robben Island to Blouberg and has already raised R3 100 – according to the GivenGain website.
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LIEZEL’S ACT OF KINDNESS
In a statement to Channel24, the former Expresso Morning Show presenter explained that she was joined by 33 other sea rescue volunteers as they swam 7.5km for charity.
“We went out early with grey, misty conditions. The water was perfectly flat but 12 degrees.”
Although Liezel had been preparing for 10 weeks, she admitted that the swim was not easy at all. However, she completed her race of non-stop swimming with only a brief pause in the water to have a drink.
“The swim was tough. The boat drops you off about 100m from the island. You have to swim to the island, you touch, and then you swim all the way through.”
LIEZEL’S REASON FOR TAKING PART IN THE INITIATIVE
Explaining her reason for taking part in this initiative, the 43-year-old model told a heartbreaking story of a child sadly drowning in a farm dam in Kayamandi, a suburb of Stellenbosch in the Western Cape province.
“‘Another child drowned in a farm dam’ – this heartbreaking news I received from Songo Fipaza from Songo Cycling Academy in Kayamandi, about another child drowning in a local farm dam – is one of the reasons that motivated me to sign up to swim the NSRI Robben Island crossing in April 2022,” she was quoted as saying on the GivenGain site.
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‘I WAS FEELING ANXIOUS AND NERVOUS’
Documenting parts of her race on her Instagram account, she shared a series of pictures and videos.
In one post, Liezel expressed her anxiety leading up to the challenge and how much she missed her father who would have been proud of her.
“At this point I was feeling anxious & nervous, and I missed my dad, he was always proud to watch me take on any challenge,” she wrote in part.