Carina Bruwer from the multiple award-winning instrumental pop group Sterling EQ, successfully rounded Cape Point on 23 April 2013, finishing the 8km extreme swim equipped only with a standard swimming costume, cap and goggles, according to open water swimming rules. The “Swim for Hope” was in support of the Little Fighters Cancer Trust (LFCT), a local charity that offers support to children with cancer and their families, which Carina and Sterling EQ actively support, and marked Carina’s return to open water swimming after a 6 year break during which she became a mother of two.
The extreme swim through wild, cold and shark infested waters, started at Dias Beach on the western side of the point, and ended 8km east at Buffels Bay. Icy water temperatures between 11,5 and 14 degrees posed the biggest challenge to Carina, fresh from winning a Ghoema Music Award with Sterling EQ for Best Instrumental Album of 2013. She was crushed by waves off Diaz beach and lost a pair of goggles in the process, got stung repeatedly by a school of jellyfish, and had to fight severe currents around the point. She completed the swim in 2h36mins — 16 minutes slower than the record she set for the swim in 2004.