Shoneé’s 20km Mad Dash

” The Mad Dash swim was all about swimming with purpose and for a very special cause. Swimming in the dark with the lagoon full of colour from our lit up floats was just incredible. The sunrise was spectacular and the beauty of this swim is that you can stop to soak it all in and have the odd quick chat with a fellow swimmer, because it is not a timed race.

The 20km swim was my second time doing a swim of this distance and I was ready for it. I got very cold after the 12km route, the water had dropped from 16deg to 12deg and my jaw was actually hurting from the jittering, but I pushed on with Peter Emslie and we said let’s see how we go on the next section of the route, we can always stop half way and turn around if it’s too cold or hop on the boat and come back. But that all changed and the water warmed back up to 16deg and my body just relaxed and felt so strong the rest of the swim.

My head was in the right place from the start. Knowing that I was going to finish the swim that I had set out to do, and swimming with someone makes a huge difference. I had sung plenty of songs in my head along the way and thought of my late dad as it would have been his birthday. I knew that any pain I experienced during the swim doesn’t compare to that of the sexually abused girls we were fundraising for.

I am grateful that I was able to complete the swim and pushed through, as it is all in the mind and loved every second of it, cold and all! “