OSS Champ Carina’s 18km Swim for Hope

19th June, 2019

OSS South African Swim Champ Carina Bruwer last week faced strong winds, currents and jellyfish to complete an 18km swim from Spain’s Tabarca Island to Alicante. Carina is an experienced marathon swimmer who has ticked off the English Channel, Gibraltar Straits, False Bay and Bonifacio Straits, among others.  She is also a pop-rock flautist – shortly after completing the swim, Carina gave a solo jazz flute concert in a venue near Alicante.

Carina founded Swim for Hope in 2014, to raise funds and awareness for selected South African charities and organisations.With her latest challenge, Carina is fundraising for Muzukidz, a social project that provides violin lessons for young learners from disadvantaged communities within Cape Town and surrounding areas.

“I believe that giving a child the opportunity to learn a musical instrument goes way beyond the ability to make music or the possibility of being a musician one day,” said Carina. “Studies have shown that children who do 14 months of musical training displayed more powerful structural and functional brain changes. Imagine what this can do for a young child who comes from a poor background and who has limited opportunities and a limited support structure.”

Carina described the “beautiful state of clarity” she finds through long-distance swimming and her recognition that she is fortunate to be able to access this. “Swim for Hope is all about sharing this optimism and spreading this feeling of hope that I experience in the open water”, says Carina.

Carina is on Instagram @carinabruwer and Facebook @carinabruwerofficial and her fundraising page is here.

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