MEDIA: World First Ocean Swim Attempt for Women

Two women will make history by being the first women to tackle one of the biggest open ocean swims in the world. Harriet Grant and Kaname Woodfield from Cairns, Far North Queensland will take on the 27km plus swim later this year.

The swim runs from Green Island to Yorkey’s Knob in Cairns. It is a 27km swim “on a good day” says swimmer Harriet Grant for the Swimming the Gap 2022 promo on their mycause fundraising page.

“But depending on tides, the weather, and if I can swim straight, it ends up being more like around 30 kilometres.”

Swimming the Gap is a charity swim, raising funds for AFL House Cape York Foundation, for which they raised $11,000 with last year's swim.

AFL House Cape York Foundation is based in Cairns and supports young indigenous Australians with education, employment, and training opportunities. They also aim to build transition accommodation and provide support to indigineous students after they graduate. 

Woodfield says swimming is her life. “I’ve been a competitive swimmer when I was young in Japan and I’ve been teaching how to swim for nearly twenty years…”

Woodfield describes the training it takes to undertake such an enormous swim as hard, and more of a mental activity.

When the time comes, Grant says she will “get up around 6 am, and make my way across the channel facing all the sharks, crocodiles and jellyfish.”

The Cairns Post cartoonist made light of the swim team's potential company on the swim:

The team's training journey as they lead up to one of the biggest swims globally is being followed by 7NEWS Cairns, Cairns Post, and Tropical Now.

AFL Cape York General Manager, Rick Hanlon OAM, told AFL Queensland he greatly admired the women and their challenge ahead.

"I'm in awe of them. To be able to swim 27k's in the ocean and ten hours in the water is extreme athleticism. You're using your whole body, and it's an amazing feat."

Hanlon also said he hoped Swim the Gap would become an annual event.

"Wellbeing support is really important for young people when they are coming from a remote community to a boarding environment for up to 40 weeks a year."

See how others challenge themselves for a cause by viewing these inspiring pages, or start your fundraising page by clicking the button below.