Ros Hardiman swim on 26 September 2009
| Swimmer |
| Name | Hardiman, Ros |
| Gender | F |
| Age | 57 |
| Nationality | UK [England] |
| Country | UK [England] |
| Swim |
| Date | 26 Sep 2009 |
| No of Ways, Leg, Direction | 1-way, 1st, E-F |
| Swim Time, Departure, Arrival | 20:17:00, 11:55:00, 08:12:00 |
| Ratifying Organisation | CSPF |
| Swim Crew and Support |
| Pilot, Boat | Lance Oram, Sea Satin |
| Observer | Tanya Harding, Julie Unitt |
| Miscellaneous |
| Comment | Success after last year's momentus swim of 25 hours 14 minutes and missing the French coast by .7 of a mile.
In 1958 Rosalinda caught poliomyelitis and was disabled thereafter. She can only walk a few steps using calipers, crutches and a back brace and is mostly dependent upon a wheelchair. Ros has absolutely no use of her legs and lower back in the water, so all propulsion comes from her arms. This makes her a slower than average swimmer and lack of leg movement makes hypothermia more likely. Logistics present further challenges: getting to and from the water is by “hunching”, on her rear end or having to crawl and getting into support boats tricky. Taking feeds during long swims is not easy as she can’t use her legs to tread water to maintain a position near the boat or kick upwards to reach a drink bottle.
Finally, Ros has been unable to take on marathons swim in other countries because organizers are unable/unwilling to accept a swimmer with her disability. Most boats lack the facility of a water level shelf or lift/hoist to extract her from the water.
Landed halfway between Pte De Riden/Pte Du Nid |
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