Deaxo Croes, Davy Bisslik, Romar Arendsz, Wendy Kock-Croes, Stephan Thijsen Swim From Venezuela To Aruba Following In The Wake Of Roly Bisslik
Deaxo Croes, Davy Bisslik, Romar Arendsz, Wendy Kock-Croes, Stephan Thijsen Swim From Venezuela To Aruba Following In The Wake Of Roly Bisslik
Sponsored by KAATSU Global, Huntington Beach, California.Courtesy of Francisco Goedgedrag and Deaxo Croes, Aruba.
In 1975 coach Roly Bisslik started a swimming team with a few friends and his family on his native island of Aruba. Swimming workouts were held along the shore of the Commandeurs Bay where hand-painted lines on the rocks marked t25, 50 and 100 meters.
But Coach Bisslik always had a dream to build a 50m pool in his hometown of Savaneta on the southeastern side of the Caribbean island near the South American continent.
He swam to make his dream a reality.
On August 7th 1988, Bisslik swam for more than 10 hours from the northern shore of Venezuela to Aruba, capturing the hearts and purse strings of many Arubans who donated enough money for the team to buy land right in his backyard. The land was sold to the government of Aruba for the symbolic price of afl. 1.00 with the sole purpose of constructing a 50m pool. The pool was later named Piscina Olimpico Roly Bisslik.
Francisco Goedgedrag reported that 38-year-old Deaxo Croes (10 hours 20 minutes), 36-year-old retired Olympic swimmer Davy Bisslik (a record-setting 8 hours 43 minutes), 38-year-old Romar Arendsz (9 hours 48 minutes), 41-year-old mother of two Wendy Kock-Croes (10 hours 2 minutes), and 22-year-old Stephan Thijsen (9 hours 13 minutes) completed the 30 km tandem swim from Venezuela to Aruba on November 11th 2018. Under the escort of pilot Johannes L.J. Versteeg, crew members Charlene Leslie, Seanbrick Topperberg and Incoe Marsinus supported their crossing from Piedras Negras on Estado Falcon in Venezuela to Barcadera on Aruba.
They started from Venezuela facing white caps on the Atlantic Ocean under moderate winds. The swim was recorded with a Suunto 9 Sports Watch; a visual representation of his swim can be seen here. The charity swim supported the charitable organization ‘Koningin Wilhelmina Fonds’ that helps assisting cancer patients on Aruba.
For more information, visit Crossing For Hope.
Roly Bisslik introduces the swim:
Davy Bisslik:
Romar Arendsz:
Wendy_Kock-Croes:
Stephan Thijsen:
Deaxo Croes
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Southern California native, born 1962, is the creator of the WOWSA Awards, Oceans Seven, Openwaterpedia, Citrus Corps, World Open Water Swimming Association, Daily News of Open Water Swimming, Global Open Water Swimming Conference. He is Chief Executive Officer of KAATSU Global and KAATSU Research Institute. Inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Swimmer, Class of 2001) and Ice Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Contributor - Media, Class of 2019), recipient of the International Swimming Hall of Fame's Poseidon Award (2016), International Swimming Hall of Fame's Irving Davids-Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award (2010), USA Swimming's Glen S. Hummer Award (2007, 2010) and Harvard University's John B. Imrie Award (1984). Served on the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee and as Technical Delegate with the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games, and 9-time USA Swimming coaching staff. Note: WOWSA only recommends products or services used or recommended by the community. WOWSA does not receive compensation for links or products mentioned on this site or in blog posts. If it does, it will be indicated clearly on that specific post. See WOWSA's privacy policy for more information.
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