Clad only in a speedo and a pair of goggles, record breaking swimmer Theodore Yach, 51, endured 10.5 long hours in the Atlantic Ocean yesterday to complete the first 29.5km swim around Robben Island.

Yach, of Cape Town, is one of South Africa's most accomplished cold-water, long-distance swimmers, and holds a number of records.

He swam against both mild and strong currents in water of about 16 degrees Celcius.

Yach took off from Three Anchor Bay at about 6.30am and returned to shore just after 5pm.

As he came in through the waves, friends, colleagues, relatives and admirers were waiting to congratulate him.

His proud wife, Michelle, said she had been "worried that something might happen to him".

"I always get scared when he does this, but I have a lot of confidence in him because he always succeeds."

In addition he was under the watchful eye of a team of supporters and a TV crew on a boat next to him.

His friend and training partner, Patrick Parkins, described the father of two's feat as "very, very bold and a genuine act of generosity".

The purpose of the gruelling swim was to raise funds to build swimming pools in city townships so underprivileged swimmers can get quality training.

"He is such a good-hearted and brave person. He is very driven and what is special about him is that he uses his talent to do good for others.

"Floods of messages have arrived from all over the world for him," said Parkins.

The swim is physically demanding, and Yach did 6km training swims six days a week - 36km a week - for three years.

"I trained very hard for today and knowing that this effort will change some people's lives touches me deeply," he said

Speaking about the difficulties he had encountered, he said: "I did get a couple of jellyfish stings and struggled a bit against the current when the wind picked up."

However, he said he would do it again without hesitation.

The swim raised more than R100 000 towards his swimming pool project.