Back in the swim of things
SURF Coast Mayor David Bell is training hard and ready to take on the summer’s big swims.
An impressive feat when you consider the 61-year-old (pictured) is recovering from a heart attack after a swim at the Torquay RACV Resort in March.
“I swam 500m and I thought ‘I’ve got surprisingly unfit in five weeks’. I felt heavy in both of my arms and felt out of sorts,” Cr Bell said.
“As a typical male, I decided nothing major was wrong so I just went home to lie down for a little while.”
Cr Bell’s partner knew something was wrong and drove him straight to hospital.
“I count myself fortunate that my partner was home at the time, otherwise, I’d probably be dead,” Cr Bell said.
“I had done the Danger 1000 in January and got very breathless, which I put down to getting old. But it was actually my heart not functioning. My heart was trying to tell me it was crook.”
A simple walk down his driveway exhausted the councillor in the weeks after his health scare.
Nine months later, and after countless hours building his fitness, Cr Bell is planning to compete in January’s Danger 1000 at Torquay and the Lorne Pier to Pub. “The Danger 1000, along with the Bells Bash Cliff Run, is a major fundraiser for Jan Juc Surf Life Saving Club, and the Lorne Pier to Pub is one of those summer events that everyone should experience at least once in their lifetime,” he said.
“The Surf Coast is transformed by community events like these each summer, we’re lucky to have them.”
For Cr Bell, the incident is a reminder to not ignore your body when something is feeling not quite right.
“I ignored the early symptoms but thankfully, I’ve been very fortunate,” he said.