Fastest two-way relay swim crossing of False Bay (female)

The fastest two-way relay swim crossing of False Bay (female) in South Africa is 29 hours 40 minutes 6 seconds, achieved by Shoneé Cornelissen, Eva Dirksen, Katherine Persson (all South Africa) and Georgina Smith (UK), aka the "Fantastic Four", on 17–18 November 2024.

This was the first ever attempt at a two-way swim crossing of False Bay by either an individual or a relay team. The swimmers were piloted by Jonathan Dawson, Nathan Dawson, Michelle Petring and Kyle Stephens of Big Bay Events.

False Bay is the largest bay at the southern tip of Africa, situated between False Cape Point (aka Hangklip) and Cape Point. The distance is approximately 34 km (21.1 mi) as the crow flies, but as with any long-distance ocean swim, the final route is greatly affected by currents, wind, swell and waves on the day. Water temperature in the bay varies from 20°C (68°F) in the summer to 10°C (50°F) in the winter. The bay is home to a variety of wildlife, including seals, dolphins, whales and most infamously great white sharks, although the latter tend to be found nearer the shore, meaning swimmers and their support teams need to be extra-vigilant at the start and end of the crossing. On this trip, there were sightings of two large pods of dolphins, porpoises, two whales, two sunfish and many seals and seabirds.

The first person to successfully swim across False Bay was Annemie Landmeters (Belgium), who completed a one-way crossing in 9 hours 56 minutes on 30 January 1989, swimming east to west from Rooi Els to Miller’s Point. Three local swimmers (Derek Yach, Godfrey Mocke and Kevin Fialkov) attempted the traverse in 1986 but didn’t complete it. The first man to complete the journey was Steven Klugman (South Africa), also from Rooi Els to Miller’s Point, with a time of 14 hours 18 minutes on 15 February 2004.