Cape Town – An 11-year-old girl from Jeffreys Bay on Friday morning became the youngest person ever to swim the 7.9km distance between Robben Island and Big Bay in Blouberg, Cape Town.
Abriella Bredell took this challenge upon herself to raise money for the Red Cross Children’s Hospital.
In an April 2017 Facebook post, Bredell wrote: “My goal is to swim the Robben Island Channel this December in order to raise funds for my favourite charity, The Red Cross Children’s Hospital”.
Bredell has pledged to raise R2m for the hospital.
She conquered her goal on Friday morning, after waiting for weeks for the perfect weather conditions.
She has been swimming from the age of two, and trains fives time a week.
“I love swimming because I am a very competitive person and enjoy swimming races against other people and improving my times. I like learning new things, keeping fit and taking care of my body. Swimming does all of the above for me,” Bredell wrote.
She said her ultimate goal in swimming was to train hard and to swim the Robben Island Channel with her coach, Brenton Williams.