Alwyn Uys
Meet Alwyn Uys
His active lifestyle as a rugby player was, however, brought to a halt in 2014, when he was in a car accident while travelling a few kilometres outside Kirkwood, which left him paralysed from the waist down, which left him wheelchair-bound, paralysed from the chest down with a T8 SCI.
“It happened on Friday, 13 December 2014. I looked down for a second and the front wheel went off the road and hit some sand. I lost control and was ejected from the car. I broke my shoulder, ribs, femur, back and neck.”
Ever since then, Alwyn has been determined to overcome his injury and inspire others around him.
In 2019, he completed the Ironman 70.3 and in 2020 he was the first paraplegic in the world to swim the Robben Island Crossing.
Fight To The Finish
Men's Health South Africa|July 2019
Alwyn Uys glided onto the pink Ironman 70.3 carpet, the arms that steered him through a 1.9km swim, 90.1km cycle and 21.1km run in front of him, lifting only to wipe away a tear. He heard the crowd cheering, felt their energy; and the loudest applause he’d ever heard washed over him like the waves of the Durban sea he’d swum in earlier. Crossing the half Ironman finish line had always been a dream of his. Now, against all odds, it had come true.
BROKEN DREAMS
Alwyn had spent his university years playing for a formidable Maties rugby team, but was benched after a persistent arm injury. Wrapped up in trying to find out who he was if he couldn’t be a rugby player, he turned to triathlon, with the Ironman start line fixed in his mind.
Then – for one second – he took his eyes off the road. Alwyn’s car hit a dip between dirt and tarmac, went spinning, and he was flung through the windscreen. One second: the length of time he took his eyes off the road. One second: how long, he recalls, it took his car to crash. One life-changing second.
“The Ironman is known for being the toughest endurance race for any athlete. And when I was paralysed, I took a knock – a big one. Mentally, it broke me. I was this strong, capable guy who could do anything, physically. And in an instant, I’m sitting in a wheelchair, helpless. Dependent on people around me. “And that broke me. I used to be the one who was able to help others; and now? I couldn’t even turn myself around in my bed…” He laughs, and makes sure to add, “…at the time of the accident. I can do that pretty well now.”
Alwyn Uys has become the first paraplegic swimmer to complete the swim from Robben Island to Blouberg Beach; this is his inspiring story!
Cape Town, South Africa (21 December 2020) – Alwyn Uys was in a car accident that left him paralysed from the chest down. He turned his attentions to making his body strong and found a love for triathlons. Alwyn has such a deep love for the triathlon races that within his first 4 years of being in the wheelchair, he worked his way to being the first South African paraplegic to complete the Durban Ironman.
Now Alwyn has gone on to become the first to swim the Robben Island to Blouberg ocean crossing. Many people with other disabilities have completed the swim, but Alwyn became the first with his disability.
“I remember waking up next to the side of the road, everything was blurry but I could make out a figure standing over me telling me to lay still. I tried to get up, but there was just nothing, no movement from the chest down. Just a fiery pain throughout my body, as I got crushed by my car rolling over me.
It begs the question, how could surviving this crash be any kind of mercy?
4 years later, I wheeled onto the red carpet for the Durban Ironman in my racing wheelchair. Becoming the first South African paraplegic to ever complete an Ironman.
Maybe, just maybe, everything of my past was preparing me for this life I am living now, disabled yes, but only physically.
I realised that to fully embrace this new life and everything that it held for me, I had to let go of my past, of what happened to me and leap into the unknown of this new life, and what a life it has proven to be.”
Alwyn is a tri-athlete, but he started his intense training 12 weeks before he made the swim. Swimming is not his strongest skill, and before his accident, Alwyn never swam at all. It was this challenge that has pushed him to try new things. By becoming a swimmer, he has been able to set a goal and push to achieve it.
The swim from Robben Island is about 8km through choppy waters that have temperatures ranging around 14 degrees. Alwyn admits to facing many of his fears during this challenge. From the unknowns of the ocean at large like facing possible sharks, strong currents to facing his own thoughts through the process.
Alwyn admits that when facing challenges like this, he does slip into those dark places in his mind but it is his faith that always brings him back.
The challenges that stood out most for Alwyn were his body’s ability to retain heat, swimming without the use of his legs and fighting strong currents. Because of his disability, Alwyn’s feet are always cold and swimming in 14-degree waters made it very tough for him to keep his body warm.
Not being able to use his legs, his focus became his stroke. Alwyn does say that he didn’t struggle too much as his body was quite buoyant and he just had to focus on his forward momentum. The 5 to 6km stretch of his swim was by far the hardest on him mentally. The waves were hitting his face which meant he needed to hold his breath more than normal which with equally physically tiring. The constant waves also meant that Alwyn’s salt intake was higher, leaving him very thirsty and hungry.
Alwyn says that at the last 1km, you can see the shore, the beach and the many supporters. The current was hardest at the final stretch and pushed Alwyn off course, but he fought the challenging current and was able to end up at the right point on the beach.
You will be able to learn more about Alwyn in his upcoming documentary “Against All Odds” which should be out late 2021. The documentary ended filming with the completion of his Robben Island swim.
The next challenge Alwyn is setting for himself is to complete a full Ironman Challenge in South Africa. You can follow his adventures via his Facebook page here.
Braving the current: South African paraplegic athlete conquers the Robben Island swim – and some ‘dark moments’
Alwyn Uys endured the ocean currents and completed a gruelling 8km swim from Robben Island to Bloubergstrand last week, making him the first paraplegic athlete to complete the crossing. Braving the currents of Table Bay proved to be challenging, and he admits there were some ‘dark moments’ amidst the ocean swells.
Thirty-year-old paraplegic athlete, Alwyn Uys is known as a trailblazer in his field. In June 2019, he became the first paraplegic South African to complete a half Ironman, and earlier this year, he went on to become the first male para-athlete in the world to do the virtual Comrades in a racing wheelchair, on 14 June.
On 11 December, Uys braved the swells of Table Bay and took on the 7,687m swim from Robben Island to Bloubergstrand, becoming the first paraplegic athlete to successfully complete the crossing.
In December 2014, Uys nearly died when he was involved in a motor vehicle crash, and became paralysed from the waist down. He would never have considered attempting this swim or completing the Ironman before his crash, he said.
Inspirational Uys
“Inspirational”, that’s how renowned British-South African swimmer Lewis Pugh described Uys’ swim, which took place last Friday. This crossing, for Pugh, an able-bodied endurance swimmer, is a difficult feat. “It’s always challenging, I’ve never done an easy Robben Island swim,” said Pugh.
“The Robben Island swim always throws something at you… But your first Robben Island swim is always special. That moment when you put your feet down and you feel sand, is a beautiful feeling,” says Pugh.
The crossing, which took Uys three hours and three minutes, was mentally unlike anything he had done before and “completely unique” in its challenges.
“In the ocean, you are at the mercy of all the elements,” said Uys.
Uys, who grew up in the Eastern Cape and now resides in Durbanville, and his trainer, Keith Jansen, were first scheduled to attempt the swim together in December 2019, but due to poor weather conditions, it never took place, Jansen told Daily Maverick. A year on, Uys completed the swim across Table Bay with Jansen in the support boat.
“I think it was in our favour that it got postponed. At that time we didn’t see it that way. But I think it definitely played into our favour,” said Jansen.
Weather conditions
For Uys to safely attempt the swim – without risking hyperthermia – the water temperature needed to be higher than 15°C, Jansen explained. And on the morning of 11 December, the conditions were perfect.
“The water temperature was 16°C when we jumped in, which was absolutely fantastic. It was a little bit of an overcast morning and there was no real wind,” he said.
The boat departed from the Oceana Power Boat Club in Granger Bay to Robben Island, at about 6am that Friday.
Jansen, who has been Uys’ trainer for a little over two years, accompanied Uys in the support boat to monitor and feed him every 30 minutes.
“When we started, [Uys] was swimming at about one minute 50 seconds per hundred metre, which is really good for him,” said Jansen.
But, within the first kilometre of swimming, the swell picked up and the current became stronger.
“I thought I’d be okay, but there was a strong current and I had to fight against [it] the whole time,” said Uys. The side-on current forced him to swim further than expected.
Other categories of people with disabilities have completed the Robben Island to Bloubergstrand crossing before, such as quadriplegic athlete Pieter du Preez, in 2017.
Inspirational Uys
“Inspirational”, that’s how renowned British-South African swimmer Lewis Pugh described Uys’ swim, which took place last Friday. This crossing, for Pugh, an able-bodied endurance swimmer, is a difficult feat. “It’s always challenging, I’ve never done an easy Robben Island swim,” said Pugh.
“The Robben Island swim always throws something at you… But your first Robben Island swim is always special. That moment when you put your feet down and you feel sand, is a beautiful feeling,” says Pugh.
Pugh was the 50th person to ever complete the Robben Island to Bloubergstrand swim, at the age of 17, in 1987. “You can now, on a good day, get 50 people doing it – it’s become that popular,” says Pugh.
The crossing, which took Uys three hours and three minutes, was mentally unlike anything he had done before and “completely unique” in its challenges.
“In the ocean, you are at the mercy of all the elements,” said Uys.
Uys, who grew up in the Eastern Cape and now resides in Durbanville, and his trainer, Keith Jansen, were first scheduled to attempt the swim together in December 2019, but due to poor weather conditions, it never took place, Jansen told Daily Maverick. A year on, Uys completed the swim across Table Bay with Jansen in the support boat.
“I think it was in our favour that it got postponed. At that time we didn’t see it that way. But I think it definitely played into our favour,” said Jansen.
Weather conditions
For Uys to safely attempt the swim – without risking hyperthermia – the water temperature needed to be higher than 15°C, Jansen explained. And on the morning of 11 December, the conditions were perfect.
“The water temperature was 16°C when we jumped in, which was absolutely fantastic. It was a little bit of an overcast morning and there was no real wind,” he said.
The boat departed from the Oceana Power Boat Club in Granger Bay to Robben Island, at about 6am that Friday.
Jansen, who has been Uys’ trainer for a little over two years, accompanied Uys in the support boat to monitor and feed him every 30 minutes.
“When we started, [Uys] was swimming at about one minute 50 seconds per hundred metre, which is really good for him,” said Jansen.
But, within the first kilometre of swimming, the swell picked up and the current became stronger.
“I thought I’d be okay, but there was a strong current and I had to fight against [it] the whole time,” said Uys. The side-on current forced him to swim further than expected.
Against the current
“I’ll be honest with you, there were some very dark moments,” said Uys. At around 5km, when the current was at its strongest, he felt as though he was not making any progress. The current was putting pressure on his one side, pushing him away from the shoreline and forcing him to work harder against the swell.
“It literally felt like I was standing still at one point. And that’s very demoralising,” he said.
The weather and water conditions turned in the last 1.7km towards the finish, said Jansen. And for a while, Uys was swimming parallel to the beach. “I couldn’t even feed him for that last hour and a half because every time we would’ve stopped, we would have lost about 80 to 120m,” said Jansen. “So he just had to fight along and push through it.”
Uys said once the “two rock islands” at Eden on the Bay came into view, he knew he was almost at the shore. It was then that he was told that he needed to swim his hardest for the next two minutes, in order to get past the rock formation, otherwise he would need to change direction because the current was too strong. But before he knew it, Uys could feel the waves, propelling him toward the beach, where he was surprised with a large crowd of supporters.
“The next moment I’m sitting on a carpet, and I had to ask myself, ‘did I just do this?’” he said. “It was so surreal at that moment, I think I sat for a good 15 minutes, just taking it all in.”
On the horizon
His next goal is to complete the full Ironman, in 2021. But he is not yet done with swimming.
“I have an idea that there’s a lot more swimming coming.
“I’ll focus on Ironman for the moment, but I am thinking of another swim. I really enjoyed the swim. It was something so unique,” he said.
Uys is also currently involved in filming a documentary about his life, including the build-up to and his successful crossing from Robben Island to Blouberg. “The documentary is really about my life story… and everything I went through from a young age; the adversity I faced becoming paralysed… and the pinnacle of it is doing this swim,” said Uys.
The documentary titled, Against All Odds will be available in late 2021. DM
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-12-18-braving-the-current-south-african-paraplegic-athlete-conquers-the-robben-island-swim-and-some-dark-moments/
Meet the paraplegic tri-athlete who does not let his disability slow him down
7 April 2021
Alwyn Uys wasn’t always smashing athletic records in Ironman competitions and long-distance swimming.
Six years ago he felt like he was “living in a nightmare”. The one-time Maties rugby player had been in a near-fatal car crash and broke his back, leaving him paralysed from the waist down.
“The first time [I heard the news] it felt like I was living someone else’s nightmare. I just could not believe that this is happening to me. It took me years to fully adapt,” he recalls.
It wasn’t an easy process, but Alwyn (30) never gave up on himself, and set his sights on new challenges.
Alwyn Uys wasn’t always smashing athletic records in Ironman competitions and long-distance swimming.
Six years ago he felt like he was “living in a nightmare”. The one-time Maties rugby player had been in a near-fatal car crash and broke his back, leaving him paralysed from the waist down.
“The first time [I heard the news] it felt like I was living someone else’s nightmare. I just could not believe that this is happening to me. It took me years to fully adapt,” he recalls.
It wasn’t an easy process, but Alwyn (30) never gave up on himself, and set his sights on new challenges.
Alwyn completed it in five-and-a-half hours, 30 minutes ahead of his goal of completing the challenge in six hours. He used a handcycle to cycle and a racing wheelchair for the run.
“I wanted to challenge myself. I wanted to see how far I can push it,” he says.
To prepare for sporting events, Alwyn trains for 15 to 20 hours a week, a process he describes as “quite gruelling”.
“The events are tough, but training is where the magic is.”
The most challenging part of the triathlon, he says, was the swim. He prepared by getting up at 5am for a cold-water swim at his local gym.
His favourite of the triathlon activities was cycling because he enjoys “the time I have on the road, that I have with my thoughts and being out in nature”.
Stefan Enslin on ‘Against All Odds: The Alwyn Uys Story’
April 6, 2022
On 13 December 2014 Alwyn Uys, an ambitious young man with a promising aptitude for rugby, had an accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down. Facing a drastically altered life Uys set his mind on a feat never accomplished by a paraplegic athlete: swimming from Robben Island to Eden on the Bay.
Against All Odds: The Alwyn Uys Story documents the inspirational journey to Alwyn’s historic attempt, and the treacherous swim itself. We spoke to director Stefan Enslin about his part in Alwyn’s mission to inspire others.
How did you become aware of Alwyn Uys and his plans to swim the Robben Island crossing?
One of my friends, Nelis Engelbrecht, followed Alwyn on social and arranged to have a coffee and hear his story. After that they contacted me and the rest as they say is history.
We hear Alwyn conceptualize his life as a story through which he’ll be remembered, one he refused to let define him as a promising young man who couldn’t overcome the misfortune that was dealt to him. What was it about Alwyn’s story that drew you to tell it?
In a sense it is very similar to mine. I wasn’t always a filmmaker. After school, life took me in different directions, but my heart always longed to tell stories. And then one day I thought – I don’t want to be 90 years old one day and wonder what my life would look like had I followed my calling.
After the accident, Alwyn wanted to commit suicide – was that really his life story? He had an accident, could not deal with being paralyzed and committed suicide; or was there more to his life than that? And Alwyn has shown how his life is filled with so much beauty because he refused to give up or in. That is very inspirational for me, hence wanting to tell his story.
When showing some footage of Alwyn before his life-changing car accident, these clips and images are often made to resemble old film stock or slide projections. As a director, how did you approach framing Alwyn’s life before he found, as he puts it, his purpose?
I wanted everything before the accident to be good memories of a full life. Hence the resemblance of old film stock or slide projections – to show how this life is part of beautiful and good memories. From there on, as he puts it, his purpose-driven life is filled with shots where the sun is bright, almost like a spotlight shining on him, to highlight this purpose he has found and how that impacts everyone around him.
Did your view on the nature of the story you would be telling change at all as you became involved, as it progressed or as you were putting it together in editing? Did you ever believe Alwyn might not be able to accomplish his goal?
To be honest, there was never a moment where I doubted that Alwyn would be able to accomplish his goal. He is one of the strongest minded people I have ever met. The only way he won’t be able to accomplish his goal is if God stops him. We had tense moments due to the weather not playing along, but Alwyn even stopped those fears due to his incredible faith and believe in God.
How important do you consider Alwyn’s faith to his story, and the film itself?
It is the single most important aspect. And I get the question a lot. Why did you not go deeper into his faith and the darkness of his depression to the point of wanting to commit suicide? The reason is simple; if you meet Alwyn you will know that his faith is so strong he does not have to ponder over things. And I wanted to highlight that by not going deeper and lingering on details of trying to get out of his depression. He said God told him He still has plans for Alwyn and that was it, Alwyn didn’t commit suicide.
Cape Town looks very dour throughout the film, is this simply because in the present narrative-thread you’re grounding us in Alwyn’s surroundings mostly around the time of his swim, or because you wanted to suggest a mood going into his Herculean effort?
I wanted the focus to be on Alwyn. Basically to let him stand out as the hero in the dour appearance. That way all his achievements, especially the Robben Island swim, could be experienced with him. Doing the swim even for an abled swimmer is not easy so you can only imagine what Alwyn went through and I wanted the viewer to experience all of that with Alwyn.
There is much focus on how difficult the 7.5km swim was to endure in the moment. Typically in sports documentaries the hard work of training can be where we dwell in the dark, and the race is a triumph as reward, but you take some time to zero in on the exertion, the mental blocks that present themselves as it goes on. Why?
The reason was because the training is almost the easy part but during a race, much like life, we get tested to our utmost limits. And again, I wanted the audience to experience these difficult moments with Alwyn, because if he can overcome these turbulent conditions (the water was freezing and the current incredibly strong) I can help the viewer, through Alwyn, to believe that they are also capable of overcoming all odds.
The film ends on a promise that for Alwyn, this is “Just the beginning”, and indeed he has gone on to complete the Ironman, and has plans to summit Kilimanjaro. Would you be interested in reuniting to document Alwyn’s climb in some capacity?
Without a shadow of a doubt, I would love to be involved in capturing that incredible feat of summiting Kilimanjaro.
Most powerful films move audiences emotionally, but I think people most often fold the lessons of a film into their lives when they can be sure that what they’re seeing has really happened, as in a documentary. What do you hope people take with them after seeing your film?
That giving up is not an option. Your strength does not lie in your body, it is all in the mind.
Returning to the joys of life
12 June 2024
Wheelchair athlete Alwyn Uys (33) from Stellenbosch is a living testament to overcoming adversity and an inspiration to many.
Once an avid rugby player for Stellenbosch University and the Sharks Academy, his life took a dramatic turn on 13 December 2014. A momentary lapse while driving led to a severe car accident, leaving him paraplegic and wheelchair-bound. “It was a huge change and it impacted my life. Everything I used to love to do was now inaccessible to me. I had to change my thinking and how I do life, or I wouldn’t have made it out alive.” Despite the challenges, Uys’ spirit was not broken. He redirected his passion for sports into becoming a para-triathlete, engaging in triathlons, Ironman events and other extreme endurance challenges.
Uys’ achievements include being the first paraplegic in the world to complete the Robben Island crossing successfully. He is also the first South African paraplegic to complete a full-distance Ironman, earning him the SA para-triathlete and para-cycling gold medallist honours.
Uys’ pursuit of freedom and adventure led him to discover the life-changing potential of an off-road wheelchair during a visit to the USA. “I first experienced this in the USA, where they are more freely available for loan at beaches and parks, and it was a game-changer!
“The freedom I experienced was incredible. Now I was able to do the things I love again! I could move around freely. Go to the beach, go and walk my dogs, like I gained a piece of my life back.”
Motivated to continue his active lifestyle, Uys launched a BackaBuddy “freedom-wheels” campaign to raise funds for his own off-road wheelchair. The total cost for the chair and a trailer for transportation is around R300 000, with about an additional R5 000 needed to courier the chair to Cape Town. To date, he has raised over R165 000.
He has also founded Alwyn Uys Ministries, his own registered NPC and PBO.
“Despite the setbacks and hardships I’ve had to face and endure, life is still good and God is still good to me! I realised through this all the importance of doing what you love in this life and the value of appreciation of what you have and the small things in life. Like being able to walk on the beach with your dogs.”
The acquisition of the off-road wheelchair represents more than just enhanced mobility for Alwyn; it symbolises a reclaiming of his independence and a return to the joys of his pre-accident life.
