More Info →Karena Doig conquers the strait

Description

Newspsper clippings ...

Karena conquers the strait

by Nicole Parish

It was school as usual this morning for Karena Doig, sporting hero and pride of Levin.

On Saturday the plucky 15-year-old fulfilled a lifetime ambition by crossing Cook Strait under her own steam. Karena swam some of New Zealand's most treacherous waters in eight hours and 30 mi-nutes. She is the youngest female swimmer ever to conquer the strait. Cold water, aching arms and even a mako shark, known to be man-eating, didn't stop Karena from completing the swim she had spent a year training for. Saturday's crossing was a third-time-lucky attempt for Karena. Last week the swim had to be postponed twice due to climatic conditions. But Saturday dawned clear and fine and she was able to enter the water just after mid-day. If conditions had 'prevented the crossing over the weekend any further attempts would have had to have been postponed until March. Karena began her swim at 12.10pm at the top of the South Island at The Brothers. The water was 14.1 degrees Celsius but she was only allowed a normal swim suit and petroleum jelly to protect her from the cold — wet suits were out. She said this morning the first hour and a half was the worst because of the intense, cold but she kept going, swimming quickly to try and generate some warmth. However this didn't stop her legs from aching with the cold. Six hours and forty minutes into the swim, the support team almost ran into a shark. Karena stopped with the 1.5 metre shark only two metres in front of her. The rules state that if she touched any of the support craft or got out of the water the swim was void so she had to stay put while the shark circled a couple of times before swimming on its way. Karena said she didn't ever see the shark but she knew it was there. She said she wasn't really frightened as she knew the support team would get her out if it got any closer. Peter Jamieson PE teacher at Horowhenua College was part of the support team andpad dled beside her all the way on a surf ski and expressed awe at Karena's endurance and courage. "It was the most amazing feat of endurance, pain, determination and dedication I have ever witnessed," he said to-day. An experienced marathon swimmer and surf life saver Mr Jamieson decided to swim the last five kilometres with Karena. Even with a long-John wet suit he had to get out after 40 minutes because it was so cold and it took him 20 minutes to recover. He said he could never have lasted eight hours and 30 minutes in such cold water. At about 8.40pm Karena climbed out of the water on to a rocky beach 1km south of Ohau point, at 15 years and 18 days, the youngest woman ever to have swum the Strait. Karena broke a record held by Meda McKenzie who was 15 years and 218 days when she swam the strait on February 3, 1978. Karena's parents Alison and Kevin Doig and the Waitarere Beach Surf I Lifesaving Club made up her support team and she said they played a big part in her success. Continued on Page 4

Pat’s Piece

Waimate people will be interested to know that Karena Doig, who swam Cook Strait on Saturday is the daughter of Alison Scarlet, and Alison is the daughter of Mr and Mrs Len Scarlet. Alison is an ex-pupil of Waimate High School and Kevin Doig comes from Ashburton, and they now live in Levin. Karena is only 15 years of age and is the youngest person to swim across that treacherous piece of water. She took eight and a half hours, to complete the crossing. It is a great achievement and was brought about by train-ing for years. At 5 o'clock in the morning, three times a week, Karena went to the swimming pool to practise. Also she spends hours swimming in the sea as well. That is real dedication. I think it is a great triumph for teenagers and shows there is still grit and determination in some of our youngsters today.

A babe in the water

Levin's Karena Doig is the youngest woman to have swum Cook Strait. When she completed the 22.4km swim yesterday morning, Doig was 15 years, 18 days. Meda McKenzie was 15 years, 218 days when she first swam Cook Strait in 1978. Doig's time for her swim was eight and a half hours.

Identification