Shark attack paddler unfazed
JUST a day after a great white shark nearly bit his surf-ski in half, Pretoria advocate Ben Swart had already ordered a new one yesterday and hopes to be back in the water by the end of the week.
Swart, 55, is enjoying his first holiday in his new Plettenberg Bay house and said the shark drama was not enough to keep him out of the ocean.
“I see it as a freak accident. I have been out in the water many times.
“This has never happened before – and the chances are it will never happen again. “So why worry about it?” Swart said the most shocking aspect of the entire ordeal was the brute strength of the shark that launched him and his 6m surf-ski into the air.
“We usually paddle from Central Beach to Robberg, but because of the sea conditions we decided to go in the direction of Keurbooms,” he said.
“We were out in open water at about 7am and the morning was just perfect.
“The water was as clear as glass and we had dolphins all around us.
“And then all hell broke loose.”
Swart said he heard a loud noise beneath him and, in that split second, his first thought was “shark attack”.
“There was this incredible noise and I was hurled into the air with incredible force,” he said.
“I saw pieces of my ski flying into the air with me and just knew a shark was trying to get me.
“The sheer force of the shark was absolutely incredible. I don’t think I will ever forget what that felt like.”
As he hit the water, he knew he had to stay calm.
His first reaction was to check if there was any blood in the water, before making his way to what was left of his ski.
“I was in the middle between my two friends, and all three of us just stayed calm.
“I am not sure if it was instinct, but no one really panicked.”
With Swart in the water were Comrades veteran Nick Bester and Ronald Pronk.
Bester said while shark attacks were always at the back of paddlers’ minds, nothing prepared you for it.
“Probably 30 seconds after Ben was thrown into the water, I just froze,” Bester said.
“My mind started racing through all the possibilities of what could happen next – and many of them were quite terrifying.”
Swart hopped onto the back of Pronk’s surf-ski while Bester paddled to shore to phone the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI).
By 7.30am they were on dry land and the only reminder of the horrible incident was the gaping hole in the surf-ski recovered by the NSRI.
“If the shark had bitten the ski 40cm to the front, this story would have ended very differently,” Swart said.
“He would have torn right into where I was sitting and I would surely have died.
“I am incredibly grateful for how it played out.
“Looking back now, it seems a little unreal.”
Swart is in Plett until early January and, despite his terrifying experience, is anxiously awaiting the arrival of his new surf-ski.
Bester said they would probably head out into open water again should the new craft arrive today.
“Neither of us wants to lead a boring life, so we might as well go out and enjoy life,” he said.