Kay Bales Memorial – 18 January

On 18 January, we gathered to remember Kay Bales, one of the original founders of the Cape Long Distance Swimming Association. Long-standing CLDSA members were present — Peter Bales, Hester Snyman, Eddie Cassar, Andrew Chin, Tony Sellmeyer, Shirley van Dam, Derrick and Debbie Frazer, Ram Barkai, Hugh Tucket, Tony Scalabrino, Otto Thaning, and Keiron Palferman. It was a meaningful and fitting tribute to someone who helped shape the CLDSA we know today.

Eddie’s tribute to Kay is included below.  He and Kay served together on the CLDSA for 25 years, and his words reflected both the history and the heart of the association.

Reconnecting with long-standing members was a reminder of just how strong the Cape Town swim community is, and why the CLDSA matters. It acts as the glue — recording our swims, maintaining our records, and building our legacy. But it only works because of people: those on the beach, alongside you in the water, and in the conversations over coffee. 

Kay was multi-faceted. Many of us knew her through swimming, but the memorial reminded us of her life beyond the water — her three children, her grandchildren, and the pride she took in them. The common thread was unmistakable: love, kindness, baking, and an effortless ability to make people feel welcome, at home, and seen.

Her CLDSA legacy is both practical and human. Organisation. Record-keeping. Securing approvals. Making things happen when others stalled. And just as importantly: building community, offering support, noticing people, and celebrating them.

We are grateful for what Kay built, and inspired to carry it forward — with the same competence, warmth, and care.

Tribute, by Eddy Cassar

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. My name is Eddy Cassar and I served on the Cape Long Distance Swimming Association for a period of 25 odd years since the early 1980s. That’s where I got to know Kay.

I have been asked to chat about Kay’s association with swimming in Cape Town. The more research I did, the more facts were revealed about Kay that I did not know. 

Today we are remembering someone who had a remarkable gift: 

the ability of making people feel seen! Kay’s presence gave you confidence and helped many people give the best of themselves. 

She touched so many lives in the swimming fraternity and was the calming mermaid in stressful competitive situations. 

All of us young swimmers in the 80s were in awe of Peter Bales, Robben Island swimmer and first SA man to swim the English Channel. The CLDSA was run super efficiently, though as we got to know Peter, we realized that he loved being on the water and it was Kay who was the genius of the Association. 

Each Robben Island swim was meticulously recorded, scrap books neatly updated with every news clip recording the history of the Association. When it came to certificates, each was neatly calligraphied conveying status to the successful crossing.

The background work that made the association tick was her domain and she did it super effectively, with panache and charm. 

The more I delved into Kay’s involvement in swimming, the more I realized that she was at the heart of many disciplines of the sport in Cape Town.

What started out with Kim as a 13 year old, showing interest in synchro swimming, turned into a decades-long association with swimming in the Western Province. 

She served as the Western Province Synchronised Swimming Convenor and then Selector from 1982 to 1988 and became the Chaperone of WP Swimming Team from 1986 to 1999. She progressed to Masters swimming where her expertise and calming nature was used with age-group swimmers. Generations of swimmers passed their entire career with Kay by their sides!

She assisted with every aspect of galas making sure they ran like well-oiled machines.

She knew every swimmer, their background and pedigree and made each one feel like Mark Spitz, irrespective if you were a champion or team member.

Kay was a caring person with a genuine interest in your well-being. She had a way of making you feel looked after. She possessed a calming effect in a tense atmosphere, always encouraging and interested. 

On the news of her passing, many swimmers around the world who passed through Kay’s gentle nature experienced a warm feeling at the thought that they were privileged to experience her caring way. 

Kay did not enjoy boats, nor did she really enjoy swimming. It was even difficult to get her to frolic in the pool at home. Her passion was the swimmers. 

Kay Bales was a special human, who enriched so many people. 

MHDSRIP