A team of young South African swimmers return to the country this morning from the African Swimming Championships in Algeria with an impressive haul of 84 medals.
Both a senior and junior team competed in the coastal city of Oran, with the juniors earning 25 gold, 15 silver and 12 bronze medals to finish well on top of the continental medal table. The seniors claimed nine gold, 13 silver and 10 bronze medals to finish third on their medal table behind Egypt and Algeria.
Leading the way for the juniors was 18-year-old Scarlett le Roux, who secured five individual gold medals, while Cassidy Burgess claimed three individual golds and two silvers in the butterfly and backstroke events.
Le Roux dominated the freestyle events, claiming gold across every distance from 100m to 1500m. She topped the podium in the 100m freestyle after winning in a time of 58.36 seconds, the 200m freestyle (2:06.45), 400m freestyle (4:25.37), 800m freestyle (9:13.65) and the 1500m freestyle (17:34.04).
Adrian van Wyk was equally impressive in the junior boys ranks for swimmers aged 14-18. He claimed four individual golds and a bronze, while Zaine Niemand bagged three golds of his own.
Isabeau Coetsee was the pick of the senior swimmers after claiming gold in the 100m backstroke in 1:03.18 and the 200m backstroke in 2:16.42 and a silver in the 50m backstroke in 29.74 seconds, while Matthew Caldwell swam to victory in the 400m freestyle (3:53.65) and 800m freestyle (8:10.30) while also picking up silver in the 200m freestyle (1:50.73).
“It’s incredibly encouraging to see so many of our young swimmers stepping up and delivering performances of this standard on the continental stage,” said Swimming South Africa president Alan Fritz.
“These championships are an important part of the development journey for our next generation of elite athletes. To return home with 84 medals across the junior and senior teams is a reflection of the depth of talent we have in South African swimming, and we congratulate every swimmer, coach and support staff member on their contribution.
“The experience gained in this environment will be invaluable as these athletes continue their progression in the sport.”