At a crucial point on the risky swim from Robben Island to the mainland and back, long distance swimmer Graham Grindley-Ferris found strength in the companionship of a pod of wild Dusky dolphins 

Swimming alongside a school of wild dusky dolphins doesn’t happen every day.

I had this rare opportunity whilst completing a long distance endurance swim

from Robben Island to Cape Town’s Blaauwbergstrand and then back again. Graham is only the sixth person to swim the RI double. He and two other long-distance swimmers-James Saunders and Otto Tanning-set out on a one-way endurance swim on 22 December 2007. But spurred on by the sublime weather and water conditions, Grindley-Ferris “still wanted more”. Approximately half was to Blaauwbergstrand, he says, “I threw the skipper a curve ball, telling him I felt good enough to swim back” 

Known as the RI Double, the two-way swim is not usually done on a whim. Others who have completed long swims have planned and trained well in advance. “It involves mental and physical endurance to overcome the distance, the cold, ocean liners, currents, blue bottles, jellyfish and the ever-present fear of those unfriendly guys in grey suits,” Grindley-Ferris admits. “However,” he adds, “the support crew could sense that on the day I was feeling strong, and being swimmers themselves they could not deny me this opportunity. After a few phone calls to the marine authorities, I was given the thumbs up.”  

Having covered 12 kilometres of the return swim and with three still to go, Graham found his energy flagging—not surprising, given the distance and the fact that he wasn’t wearing a wet suit or fins. “I started to feel the great weight of what I had set out to do and the gremlins began creeping in,” he recalls. It was at this point that his marine escorts materialized: “[The dolphins] initially skirted the boat and me and then proceeded to swim alongside me, underneath me and just, just in front of me for the next kilometre or so. The experience was truly remarkable. They definitely wanted to swim with me, as they were constantly all around me, manoeuvring themselves just out of reach so as neither to collide with nor distract me. I was extremely tired at this point and having this sort of teamwork pulling me along was just absolutely incredible,” he says.  

Completing the swim accompanied by such incredible animals truly was a magnificent experience, which also touched those on the boat and reiterated for him the magnificence of our great oceans, Graham says. “The sheer delight of Jayne, my wife, and the boat crew provided me with that last ounce of inspiration required. I completed the swim exhausted but exhilarated and have felt on a high ever since.” 

Graham was featured on all the major National News channels on 30 December