Alumni set new records in women’s cave diving and Robben Island swim.
Wits has a proud history of swimming depth, and in the past few weeks two alumni broke significant records in the water.
Karen van den Oever (BSc 2006, BSc Hons 2008) broke the women’s deep cave diving record at Bushmansgat Cave on 26 March 2021 at 236 metres. This hole is believed to be the third-deepest submerged freshwater cave in the world and her dive lasted seven hours and 18 minutes. Dr
Niels Otto Thaning (MBBCh 1966) set a record by becoming the oldest person to swim from Robben Island to Bloubergstrand. He crossed the 7.9 km across Table Bay in two hours and 52 minutes.
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South African sets new women’s deep cave diving record
A challenging dive at Bushmansgat Cave: South Africa s Karen van den Oever recently broke the women’s deep cave diving record.
This hole is believed to be the third-deepest submerged freshwater cave (or sinkhole) in the world.
New women’s deep cave diving record set in SA
The impressive feat follows in the footsteps of the previous women’s deep cave diving record of 221 metres (721 feet) set by Verna van Schaik in 2004. Van Schaik’s dive lasted more than five hours, of which only 12 minutes were spent descending.
According to