About 100 charitable fitness fans, young and old, donned their swimwear and took to the water for the 2018 Worldwide Aquathon Day on Saturday.
This international fitness marathon took place in a total of 256 venues in 80 countries.
Organiser Rose Hartzenberg, who held the East London leg at Virgin Active in Quigney, said the idea for the three-hour event was born back in 2011 to spread the joys and health benefits of aqua fitness.
Initially, she said only about 40 participants took part, with the numbers growing every year.
In 2013, Hartzenberg said she decided to reach out to the international aqua fitness community.
The plan, she explained, was to get participants from different countries doing aquarobics at the same time, on the same day, all in their respective time zones.
Using social media as a tool, she reached out to 48 countries.
Now in its fifth year, the event is bigger than ever before.
Accompanied by high tempo music to spur them on, this year’s pumped-up participants performed a range of water-based exercises with Hartzenberg as their lead.
At the end of the three-hour session, participants were rewarded with certificates.
The fitness-cum-charity event will also give a much-needed boost to the SPCA and to Caanan Care Centre, a daycare for children with physical and mental disabilities in Southernwood, East London.
Participants were asked to donate tins of food to either the SPCA or the care centre.
“I feel so emotional right now. To see this initiative being a success and actually see people coming out and enjoying themselves, is just something else,” Hartzenberg said.
“When I started this, I never in my wildest dreams thought it would become so big. I think this is awesome for my home country and this places us on a global platform.”
Swim South Africa representative Karen Katz said she had come from Mthatha to support the initiative as Hartzenberg is her fitness instructor.
She said the event was well attended and a lot of fun.
“I have been attending since the beginning and I must say that this has grown in leaps and bounds.
“This means people are getting the message about just how great aqua fitness is and that, for me, is 100% great,” she said...