One of the oldest swimming races in the world was won in gruelling midwinter snow and ice in Hyde Park, London, by an East London woman in a time of one minute, 35 seconds.
A storm which stretched thousands of kilometres across the southern Indian Ocean sent a surge of giant 8.2m surf to the East Coast, closing the East London port. For surfers and paddlers, this was a 26-foot swell, similar to the size of surf ridden at the North Shore big wave break, at Waimea Bay, Hawaii.