1931-1945
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1920 - 1930
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1900 - 1914
Local Champions and others
1900 - 1914
The Boer War did not deter the British colonial invaders (soldiers) of southern Africa from establishing the South African Amateur Swimming Union in 1899 and hosting their first national championships the following year. The Cape Colony colonials (British subjects all) competed against "Home-born" men in the Championship events. Filler events were included, where women and children were allowed to participate.
The two competing teams - Eastern Province and Western Province, featuring water polo matches and one Championship swimming race.
1900 - Rupert Marais, a member of the well-known Afrikaner family, was the first swimming Champion. Afrikaners were to play a minor role in the management of aquatic sports at the national level. George Marais was the only SAASU President (1908) with an Afrikaans surname.
William Fiddian-Green of Port Elizabeth was the first President of the South African Amateur Swimming Union. He was also the captain of the Eastern Province water polo team.
In 1901, Rupert Marais and his brother George Marais, and a P. Marais, competed in the 100-yard event. Unfortunately, the tournament was cancelled after the first day due to the death of Queen Victoria, and Rupert was unable to defend his title.
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Carina Bruwer
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Florrie Berndt
Florrie Berndt
Florrie Berndt is a part of the Robben Island story. She lived on Robben Island, where she was the daughter of a baker and later a nurse at the island's leper colony. After Henry Hooper in 1909 and Peggy Duncan, she became the third person to complete the swim from Robben Island to Cape Town.
In early December 1926, she competed in the Cape Argus Robben Island race, won by Peggy Duncan, where she failed to finish. Later that same year she tried again, on16 December 1926, known then as Dingaan's Day. This time she was successful in crossing from Robben Island to the Pier in Cape Town harbour in 7 hours 25 minutes, beating Peggy's time by 2 hours.
In January 1928, Florrie won another race from Robben Island, in terrible conditions, taking over 10 hours to finish the event.
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1926 Dec 11 1
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Swim Described
Remarkable Robben Island stories in a play - 53 Degrees
53 Degrees debuted at the South African National Arts Festival in Grahamstown in 2002. It tells the true story of Florrie Berndt, daughter of the Robben Island baker and nurse at the Island's infirmary, and her efforts to become the first woman to swim from Robben Island to the Cape Town harbour in 1926.
Fourteen athletes entered the race Robben Island, sponsored by the Cape Argus newspaper. Only one, 15 year-old Peggy Duncan, completed the race. Berndt was the only other swimmer to come close to finishing.
The Legacy Of Florrie Berndt
Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.
Jennie Reznek (above) and Mark Fleishman extensively studied the early history of life on Robben Island and the first organized race when 14 swimmers attempted a swim from Robben Island to Cape Town in South Africa.
While 15-year-old Peggy Duncan was the only woman who completed that race in 1926 in 53ºF water, Florrie Berndt kept swimming for over 13 hours.
Berndt never finished the inaugural race due to exhaustion. She later returned to Robben Island, where she was the daughter of the island's baker and nurse, and raised children of her own while nursing lepers. But her legacy lives on due to the efforts of Reznek and Fleishman.
Read more about play in the PhD thesis of Mark Fleishman.
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