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Breathe Ocean Day Swim | Tayla steps up to 5km ocean challenge

2023 joint winners of the 3 2km swim Tayla Bruce and Bailey Forrest with Breathe Conservations Sarah Ferguson2023 joint winners of the 3.2km swim, Tayla Bruce (right) and Bailey Forrest (left) with Breathe Conservation's Sarah Ferguson, the driving force behind Saturday's World Ocean Day Swim.

Durban - After winning the 3.2km ocean swim at last year's Breathe Ocean Day Swim in Durban, 17-year-old Tayla Bruce has her sights set on the women's 5km title at this year's event on Saturday June 8.

Bruce, a matric learner at Durban Girls' College, where she is also captain of swimming, has been successfully taking on the challenges of open water swimming for the past four years, following on from her inaugural swim at the Capital K one kilometre event at Midmar Dam in 2019.

"I have been swimming since I started school and decided to try open water as a change and variation to the conventional pool swimming. I took on the Midmar swim with no great expectation and when I was done, my coach informed me my time was good enough to qualify for the nationals," said Bruce.

Those nationals were in 2020 at Jeffrey's Bay, where Bruce took on her first three kilometre swim. While it was new ground, she admits she never felt out of her depth and a new swimming bug had taken hold.

"My longest swim to date is a 10km which I did at last year's KZN Champs at Midmar," she said. "It's a huge mental challenge and I find not too many girls swim this distance, making it quite lonely in the water at times. I repeated the distance at the nationals at J-Bay and clocked 2:15 for my effort."

It's all about a strict and disciplined training regime: Bruce in the pool every morning before school, Monday to Friday, with an afternoon session thrown in as well. Her biggest challenge is not being able to train in the environment of open water swimming.

"Training in the pool gives you stamina and endurance, but it's vastly different to the lagoons and bays where most of the open water swimming events happen. The World Ocean Day Swim adds a new dimension by being a full ocean swim where there are swells, winds and currents to deal with, asking for and demanding more effort and focus," she said.

Stepping up to the 5km swim this year, Bruce, harbours hopes of winning, but admits it could be anyone's race and she knows how tight the racing can be. Last year she tied with Bailey Forrest for overall honours in the women's 3.2km race, when the two athletes could not be separated in the dash to the line,.

"The finish is always tough, having to get to shore, run through the water and sprint for the finish. Running is not my strongest discipline, but, if I can get the boost of a decent wave to help me reach the shore ahead of the chasing pack, I could pull off the win," she said. "However, it's all about respect for the other leading swimmers who can never be taken for granted."

Finishing eighth at this year's Midmar Mile, her best finish in the event, Bruce has ignited a dream. With open water swimming an Olympic event, she has a goal of representing South Africa on the biggest stage of all.

"Next year, I am taking a gap year and putting all my efforts into open water swimming. I try to get to gym at least twice a week and need to work on my body strength, but complete focus and drive in 2025 will give me a better understanding of what open water swimming is really about, and I will have the freedom to train in my own time," she said.

Coaches have already recognized Bruce's talents and a win on Saturday will be another stepping stone in her budding endurance swimming career.

Swimmers for Saturday's event have a choice of four distances: The longest event is 5km, while the 3.2km is more manageable, with the traditional mile or 1.6km the most popular distance, and swimmers can also take part in the 800m. Swimmers can use wetsuits but are not eligible for prizes.

All proceeds of the World Ocean Day Swim go toward Breathe Conservation and their fight for cleaner oceans.

While entries will be taken on the day, there will be an admin fee charged. Swimmers have been advised to enter online, which will be cheaper. Entries are at www.roag.org and information on Breathe is at www.breatheconservation.org

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Swimming, 2024, Durban, Breathe World Ocean Day Swim