Sarah is a black South African girl raised in a middle-class family that sent her to the best schools. She has a deformity in one leg, but her parents encouraged her to take swimming lessons anyway. Her coach (a half-crazy drunk) realizes Sarah has an iron will and, against the federation's wishes, enters her in the extremely tough Capri-Napoli race.

Smith, the deaf and dumb son of a rural coloured preacher, refuses to accept the menial labour on offer in the small farming community where he’s grown up. He tries to earn a living in the city, but this ends in assault, and his return home sparks off a cycle of vengeful violence.