An extreme swimmer from Somerset West has broken the record for the most Robben Island crossings after completing his 133rd crossing on Tuesday 28 March.
Howard Warrington (58) completed his 100th cross on Sunday 22 May last year, and since then has had his sights set on toughing out the 133rd crossing.
He is still only the fourth person in the world to swim from Blouberg to the island 100 times and has also raised more than R100 000 in aid of the Cape of Good Hope SPCA (“Historic open-water swim crusade to aid furry friends,” DistrictMail, 7 April 2022).
“The aim was to get to 100 crossings originally, and then the desire to hold the record was a massive motivation,” Warrington said.
“The guy who held the previous record held onto his 130 crossings for quite a while. It was a 7,4 km swim and it took me two hours and 32 minutes, and I was lucky that the water was a comfortable 17°C.”
He was accompanied by his wife, Elmarie, who served as supportive skipper, having done so for 57 of his crossings on their boat. Lily, the couple’s border collie, which was also on the boat during the record attempt, has supported Howard on 15 of these crossings. “The experience of swimming the Robben Island record is unique,” Warrington pointed out, “because each swim has its own challenges and experiences, such as being accompanied by dolphins or whales quite regularly, and seals. The penguins are on the shy side.”
Warrington said achieving significant records is an incentive to push harder and swim more frequently. “I would swim up to seven Robben Island crossings in a month (and we would do it early in the morning and then we check into work afterwards).”
He said the aim now is to reach 150 crossings before the end of June.
“We are doing this one for a charity called Distance for Difference (D4D), which focuses on orphanages and children in need. We will champion the big 150 in hopes of raising R150 000 for the charity. We are calling this fundraiser, ‘Swim for Hope’, and by then it will have peaked at 140 crossings, so the last 10 swims should be exciting.”
In 2015, he did his first Robben Island crossing, and although completing it ended up with hypothermia. “I did it again after that, but it was only in 2017 that I could swim comfortably from Robben Island to Blouberg. I started to swim this regularly. In July 2018, I swam across the English Channel and completed the swim in 16 hours.
“And when I came back I consistently looked for the next challenge and in-between completed six Comrades marathons and a couple of Ironman events. But the swimming bug really bit me. It is something that I am passionate about and my wife and family can join on the boat and share the experience with me. It makes it extra special.”
