Some may call Cameron Bellamy crazy, but a better word to describe the man who completed the longest channel swim ever in support of charity should be caring.
Though the South African ultra-endurance athlete’s swim from Barbados to St Lucia endangered his life, he said he would swim those 151 kilometres all over again if it meant underprivileged children would have a fair chance at life, and more specifically, an education.
Bellamy told THE NATION he had a decent upbringing in Cape Town but his heart has always gone out to those who were not as fortunate.
“I wanted to give back, and at one point when I had been living in Beijing, China, for three years working I decided I wanted to be a bit more extreme on the athletic side. I bought a bicycle and rode my bike to the southern tip of India by myself and it was a four-month expedition.
“I ended up in London in 2011 and I set up a charity called the Ubunye Challenge, where I wanted to keep doing extreme athletic events like cycling, swimming, and rowing, but I wanted to do it for a cause that I was passionate about, and that has always been education in South Africa and especially in poor rural areas,” he said with a pleasant smile. (RG)
Subscribe now to our eNATION edition for the full story.
For the latest stories and breaking news updates download the Nationnews apps for iOS and Android.
