Sam Guest gets wet before his two-hour return swim around
White Island on Saturday. Photo by Peter McIntosh
Sam Guest (16) struck out for White Island, off Dunedin's
St Clair beach, on Saturday, confident he was up for the
challenge of swimming to it, around it and back to the beach.
Two hours later, the John McGlashan College pupil was back,
surprised at how quickly he completed his swim, which had
just raised more than $1200 for the Cancer Society.
He did the 6km swim as part of the McGlashan Challenge, in
which pupils set themselves a mental or physical challenge to
raise funds for charity.
While not a competitive swimmer, he said he enjoyed
challenging himself, and was ''very happy'' with his two-hour
time, despite wind adding about about 1km to the most direct
5km route around the island.
He trained for four months, including four-hour non-stop
swimming sessions in the pool. He had previously swum out to
the island, although he had returned by boat.
He said he chose to raise money for the Cancer Society
because his grandfather and great-uncle had died from cancer.
debbie.porteous@odt.co.nz
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