Dubai: A South African woman who used to dread heading out to sea has become the first woman to swim around the Palm Jumeirah for a cause.
Kieran Ballard-Tremeer, 38, completed the charity swim in four hours and 28 minutes on Saturday inside the breakwater of Palm Jumeirah to raise funds for Emirates Red Crescent. Two other swimmers, Mitch Kennedy from Australia and Tobias Frenz from Germany, joined Tremeer during the charity challenge.
Tremeer said donations were made directly on the Red Crescent’s online donation page.
Tremeer, who teaches swimming and music at Nord Anglia International School Dubai, said it was a “very peaceful swim” considering her fear of the sea.
“I came from a background where I don’t even put my foot in the water because we have great white sharks in South Africa,” Treemer told Gulf News. “Slowly, over the last four years it’s become easy for me to swim here,” she added.
Tremeer, who trained for three months for the challenge, swam the 14.5km-distance around the island with one thought in mind — water safety awareness.
“A lot of unnecessary drownings are happening along the coast of Dubai and that is due to the fact that a lot of people do not know how to swim. In South Africa and Australia, most children learn to swim at an early age but here they don’t. It’s ironic because we have beautiful beaches.”
Tremeer said she aims to form a Water Safety Charity that will teach children how to swim safely, be it in pools and out in the sea.
Tremeer said she did not experience major challenges during the swim but admitted that the current near the breakwater opening opposite the Atlantis Hotel was a tough one. The same case was true for the current approaching Nakheel Beach. Volunteers were on hand to make sure that the swimmers had the support they needed during the challenge.
A spokesperson from Nakheel confirmed the feat and congratulated Tremeer and her group for their achievement. British athlete Jamie Atherton first completed the swim around the perimeter of Palm Jumeirah in 2009.
