Kromme River Descent – A Great Event
Wow! What wonderful weather we enjoyed over the weekend. And what a great advert for St Francis with the swimming of the annual Kromme Descent. Swimmers, not only from St Francis and Port Elizabeth but even a few from Cape Town and possibly even further afield descended on St Francis for the swimming of the Kromme Decent. From small beginners with only a handful of swimmers four years ago the descent has blossomed into a major and epic swimming event on the Eastern Cape calendar.
Sensibly the organisers are limiting entry to just 50 pairs (100 swimmers) lest the event becomes overcrowded. Rather than being an individual event the swimmers compete in pairs with the times of both swimmers deciding their eventual success in the placings. Another rather clever idea is that as the event is held over two days the starting order for the second day is not what one would expect with the ‘first in’ on the first day being the ‘first out’ on the second day. Rather, to assist in all the swimmers crossing the finishing line in as short a time as possible, the slowest in on the first day ae the first out on the second day. A little confusing at the finish line for some when expected when odds-on favourite, local Liquid Lines owner and coach Haydn Holmes was preceded by three or four oldies.
In another twist to the event St Francis Runners got in on the act and had an informal race where the challenge was for them to run 15 kilometres in the time it took the first swimmer to reach the Cove. The runners won I nail-biter by with Richard Morris crossing the line just 10 seconds ahead of the first swimmer in. That said however, had Hadyn Holmes started at the same time as the runners rather than as the last swimmers group it would have been ‘no contest’. So St Francis Runners have the bragging rights until next year.
Well done all the swimmers.
On a somewhat personal note I would lke to thank NSRI, or rather to two of your crew along with Craig Jarvis. Whilst swimmers were crossing the line this scribes sister-in-law in an attempt to come ashore from a boat, attempted a swallow dive from boat to jetty that sadly and seriously ended in rather bad belly flop. The NSRI crew immediately came to her aid and with Craig fetching his emergency medical kit they were able to staunch the bleeding and bandage her up so that she could be transported to Dr Jean Malan. Thanks too , to Dr Malan for his immediately interrupting his Sunday and attending to Dawn. Unfortunately the injuries were rather severe and required specialist surgery in Port Elizabeth.
As I missed the prize-giving as a result of the accident I thank Richard Arderne for the prize-giving photographs.
I would just like to add a great thanks to the NSRI folk who were quickly on the spot but as always our truly amazing Pharmacy brothers always seem to be around to assist members of the community and as luck would have it, Brandon was right on the spot and lent some much needed professional help as he expertly compressed and bandaged the numerous injuries and stabilised my wife Dawn who was the accident victim. The quick response of these three together with Craig Jarvis and his useful supply of bandages made a difference. Dr Jean Malan also responded quickly to the callout but soon had Dawn packed off to Port Elizabeth where she underwent a two hour emergency op with a local plastic surgeon. She is now back at home recuperating after a somewhat traumatic experience and it is going to be quite some time before she can ski again. My heartfelt thanks to all including the editor who provided transport to Dr Malan’s rooms. We have been overwhelmed by friends and well-wishers who have responded with messages of goodwill