After months of open water training five well trained swimmers (Deaxo Croes, Stephan Thijsen, Romar Arendsz, Davy Bisslik and Gwendolin Kock) went by boat to Venezuela on Saturday November 10. The next morning, Sunday November 11, the sea was ‘theirs’. Around 7am they started to swim, crossing the ocean, from Venezuela to Aruba. 7 hours later they safely returned to our island. Hundreds of people at fish restaurant Zeerovers, and also in the water on boats, were waiting for them. The five swimmers received joy, relief and respect from family and friends as soon as they reached the coast of Aruba.
This sport event was called ‘Crossing for Hope’ and the purpose was to raise funds for the Koningin Wilhelmina Fonds Aruba. To make sure that the swimmers finished their crossing in a good medical condition, volunteers of the Red Cross were ‘on duty’. Three of our life guards stayed close to the swimmers, in a boat. As soon as the athletes came ashore, the medical assistance was taken over by the medical staff of Imsan, who worked closely with another team of Red Cross. All five swimmers underwent a medical check of about 30 minutes, before they were ‘released’ from the medical area. Needless to say that the swimmers were grateful for the medical attention.