All heart: 82-year-old’s marathon Ahuriri swim for a good cause

Kerry Anderson after swimming a marathon in a month at Ahuriri in support of the Heart Foundation.

• Kerry Anderson, 82, completed a marathon-distance swim in May to raise money for heart research.
• He swam 1.5km daily, raising $4300 for the Heart Foundation’s My Marathon campaign.
• Anderson, a former lifesaver, underwent open-heart surgery in 2018 and swims five days a week.

Not even weather that was turning a little nasty could stop 82-year-old open-heart surgery survivor and Napier man Kerry Anderson from taking his daily dip in the ocean at Ahuriri on Friday.

He was a man with a mission, just like anyone else reaching the 40km mark in a marathon and determined to complete the last two.

He just had to be in the swim, being the last of his 1.5km swims out around the buoys to reach a goal of the 42.195km distance of a marathon throughout the month of May to raise money, via the My Marathon campaign, for life-saving heart research and specialist training for the Heart Foundation.

Rather than run for the cause, he made the late decision to swim, calculating that by dispensing with the two days a week off in the regular schedule and swimming seven days a week, he could do it in 28 days.

Thanks to the stable climate and sea conditions, it worked, and, after missing day one because he was still trying to “get my head around it” and another day because of sickness, he finished with a day to spare.

With about $4300 donated by supporters, he had become one of the top two on the foundation’s list of fundraisers in the campaign.

While supporters and fellow swimmers thought he might be a bit shy about the achievement, when contacted by Hawke’s Bay Today he was keen to help the cause, talk about the 45-minute 8am dip, and highlighting the Heart Foundation’s need.

In 2018, he underwent open-heart surgery for a valve repair.

His father had died after a heart attack at the age of 62. He is now fitter than most octogenarians.

A former pool swimmer and surflifesaver, who had a 40-year career in sales with Griffins, he reckons ocean swimming’s easier – “because I don’t have to count the laps”.

On Friday, the sea was like a millpond when he started but it didn’t last long. A westerly blew up and chopped the sea to bits, as forecast by MetService for the early stages of what would be an otherwise fine Friday and King’s Birthday weekend in Hawke’s Bay.

“We were a bit lucky,” he said.

The water was about 14C, although there was a short moment where the current felt like it was trapping him in its own “ice block”.

Afterwards, he was off for the habitual coffee at a nearby cafe, then home to help his wife, ready to take a day off on Saturday.

Despite it being a holiday weekend, the normal schedule resumed – Sunday and Monday in the water, day off Tuesday, swim Wednesday, day off Thursday, and on with the routine of swimming in the ocean five days a week.

Doug Laing is a senior reporter based in Napier with Hawke’s Bay Today, and has 52 years of journalism experience, 42 of them in Hawke’s Bay, in news gathering, including breaking news, sports, local events, issues, and personalities.