Not all New Zealand swimmers are knocking out personal bests at the moment, but one who is is 82-year-old Bill Knobloch who’s knocking his goals right out of the water.
His targets for the nationwide fundraiser Coastguard Big Swim during July were to swim 20km, an average of about 1.5km or 60 lengths at Ocean Spa a day, with a fundraising goal of $350.
But he swam 34km by the time he had to pull the plug after day 22 because he had “caught a cold”, and, thanks to fellow residents of the Knightsbridge Masonic Village, where he lives, and those who caught up with him on his daily routine, the pool has hit $2605 – “744%” of the target, and number eight nationwide on the list of individuals undertaking the challenge, according to the Coastguard Big Swim website.
A former Pacific Surf Life Saving Club member, who can’t run for exercise because of the leg injuries he received in a car crash 46 years ago, he had been confident early on that he would get the distance, telling Hawke’s Bay Today a week into the mission the body was going okay and he thought he’d end up doing about 30km in the month.
