Rough seas foil the brave “Amphibian Namibian”

Rudi Bowe

The former Namibian Paralympics swimmer Gideon ‘The Amphibian Namibian’ Nasilowski in the longest and most difficult challenge he has ever faced, braved the icy weather and water in Cape Town as part of his ongoing awareness campaign for disability not only in Namibia, but internationally.

After 16-month of perpetration, The Amphibian Namibian on Monday, 15 November 2021 set course to swim from Robben Island to Bloubergstrand in South Africa.
The Namibian Amphibian is an assistant manager at Food Lover’s Market in Walvis Bay. Nasilowski was born with a rare disorder called arthrogryposis, a congenital multi complex that causes joints to curve and contract therefore causing severe constraints on flexibility and movement of arms and legs.
Gideon Nasilowski aka the Amphibian Namibia said, “Although I am disabled, I don’t stand back for anything or anyone.”
Managing Director of Connecting People to People, Buttons Heyns said, unfortunately, the weather did not play along with us today. The wind and swell were just too strong and Gideon was not moving forward for more than 40 minutes. A call was made to end the swim at plus/minus 3km from Big Bay, as Gideon and Buff were just moving more and more north and not forward. In total, Gideon swam 9,7 km in 5 hours, 21 minutes and 56 seconds, still an amazing effort and achievement. This is not the end; we shall try again and keep an eye on The Amphibian Namibian in future.”
The Amphibian Namibian and his team thanked every person and company that have made a contribution in the past 16 months towards this Robben Island Challenge and what Gideon aims to achieve. “Without you we would not have been able to be where we are today.”