Thirteen year old St Henry’s Marist College schoolgirl Dristi Moodley refused to let the pandemic spoil her plans to swim the aQuellé Midmar Mile to raise money for the CHOC Childhood Cancer Foundation.
 
 She had set her sights on swimming the aQuellé Midmar Mile as part of the batch of The Cows that takes on the crossing of Midmar Dam every year in aid of the childhood cancer charity, but when that fell through she decided to swim the mile in the pool at her Durban school to enable her to reach her goal.
 
 “The aQuellé Midmar Mile is happening, but I can’t be there this year, so I asked my coach if I could swim the mile in the school pool,” she said.
 
 It took 60 lengths of the school pool to log the 1 600 metres, which enabled her to reach her goal of raising over R3000 for CHOC.
 
 “I swam it in 37 minutes and 13 seconds, which I am very proud of!” she beamed.
 
 “My friends and family have been very supportive and my family helped me raise the money for CHOC to let them continue the amazing work they are doing helping children battling with cancer.
 
 “I challenge every child in my grade to at least donate or swim part of the Midmar Mile distance or the full distance in support of children fighting cancer,“ she said after getting her commemorative medal from The Cows cheering her on.

 
 With the reshaped swim on the cards at Midmar Dam in carefully managed time slots, The Cows are well on their way to maintaining their reputation as a top charity fundraiser at the annual event, with scholars driving their initiative.
 
 “We cant have our special Cow batch start like we did last year,” said Iris Varty, who, as Durbs Daisy, is the charity’s organiser in KwaZulu-Natal.
 
 “But the passion and determination from the schoolchildren has been remarkable,” she added.
 
 “They are absolutely committed to completing their swim, even if it is in their swimming pools at school or at home,  like Dristi did, to make sure that CHOC doesn’t suffer the setback of not getting the money that is raised by The Cows at the event every year,” said Varty.
 
 Fellow St Henrys Marist College pupils Arya Munthee Shukla (14) and Kayla Tully (15) have also committed to doing the Mile distance for CHOC, along with Chelsea Prep scholars Lara Nel (11), Nabil Bejia (11) and Bailey Lambert (11).
 
 St Mary’s DSG in Kloof, St Mary’s DSG in Pretoria as well as Hatfield Christian School have students swimming to raise funds with The Cows for CHOC at the aQuellé Midmar Mile as well as in their school pools.