Tammy wins the Slimline Pools Ballito competition!

Fifteen people in a swimming pool for more than 50 hours.
Sounds like a pilot for a reality show, doesn’t it?
But it was a winning recipe for Slimline Pools Ballito, which hosted their first endurance pool competition at the Ballito Junction last weekend.
Beginning on Friday midday, 15 contestants (wet) suited up and jumped into a port-a-pool, determined to be the last one standing and win a fibreglass pool with the works worth more than R80 000.
The event attracted huge attention, with locals and even some internationals staying glued to social media for updates.
On Sunday evening Tammy Colley, Andrew Kops and Thanda Mayise were the last three standing.
The final challenge saw them holding up a ring of creepy crawly pipe until a winner was crowned.
Kops was the first to crack and Mayise was eventually disqualified after she strained to hold the ring up straight.
In the end, Ballito’s Tammy Colley was the last woman standing, enduring a mammoth 55 hours without sleep and a shower!
When the Courier caught up with Tammy on Monday morning she still had not caught up on her lost sleep.
“I absolutely cannot believe I lasted. I thought I would make 12 hours at the most. I think we were having so much fun that time literally flew, because I had zero strategy going into the competition.”
The first thing Tammy did when she got out of the pool was dry off and get her hands on some hot chocolate.
“I desperately wanted to shower and wash my hair, which was not pretty after three days!”
Tammy thanked her family and friends, some of whom stayed at the pool throughout the weekend cheering her on.
“I did not know I could do it, but they did. But there is no way I would do it again!”
Slimline Pools Ballito’s Kerry Niewoudt said the competition exceeded her expectations.
“We did not think it would last as long as it did. After almost 36 hours there were still 13 people in the pool, leading to a twist in the concept,” she said.
The contestants agreed for challenges to be incorporated, which began on Sunday night with turning off the heat, banning hot drinks and removing all additional warm clothing besides beanies and wet suits. Contestants were made to sit in the water and then stand for long periods of time.
“The toughest of all were the isolation challenges. Contestants were required to sit in the water in the cold, dark early hours of Sunday morning for an hour and were not allowed to speak to anybody. It was extremely mentally and physically challenging for them. By 12pm on Sunday afternoon, the contestants were required to remove their wet suits and complete more challenges,” said Niewoudt.
Niewoudt, who also stayed awake for 55 hours, said by Sunday her emotions took over every time someone left the pool.
She sent a special thank you to Quentin Power and the Specialised Rescue Unit for their round-the-clock monitoring.
“The work they do is voluntary and done in-between their day jobs. They really pulled out all the stops for us this weekend and were a huge contributor to the overall success of the competition. There was phenomenal support throughout the event. Sunday was nail biting stuff and I think the support was one of the biggest reasons they managed to survive for so long. There were even comments on Facebook of people waking up at 2am in California to see how the contestants were doing!”