Carina is an active supporter and fundraiser for the Little Fighters Cancer Trust, a local NPO that supports children with cancer and their families. Her relationship with LFCT started in 2010 when she performed at their Gold Event with Sterling EQ, and being deeply touched by the organisation’s work, as well as the challenge faced by the children and their families, Carina became more and more involved with LFCT.
“We (Sterling EQ) get exposed to many wonderful charities, but as a mother of two beautifully healthy girls, the idea of children suffering from cancer really started to haunt me. I wanted to do more than appear at their events; I wanted to make a difference – for the kids and the organisation. So, I started toying with the idea of returning to the ocean as I knew that the profile I had as a member of Sterling EQ, combined with a “mad” physical challenge, would attract a lot of attention.”
And so, Swim For Hope was born in 2013. For the first time in 6 years, Carina took to the cold Atlantic ocean wearing only a swimsuit, cap and goggles, and rounded Cape Point with its notoriously wild and shark infested waters in 12 degrees Celsius, in a time of 2h36, reaching Buffels Bay in a severely hypothermic state. She raised R17,000 and a lot of media coverage for Little Fighters Cancer Trust. In 2014, in an effort to raise more money and exposure, Carina invited 14 other experienced open water swimmers to join her in what turned out to be a dramatic and record breaking group rounding of the Cape of Storms, raising over R115,000.
“Open water swimming has come alive for me again! Not because I’m breaking records or doing anything out of this world, but because I seem to have found a way of doing what I love, to make a difference – however small – in the lives of people who really need all the help and positive energy they can get.”
We all have so much to give, and when we do so with conviction, passion and love, giving actually becomes receiving. It is beautiful…”
SWIM FOR HOPE is now a platform for Carina and any likeminded open water swimmer to use their passion to assist the Little Fighters Cancer Trust.