Flamingo Aquatics’ own awesome foursome bring home medals and shatter records at national event.
The SA National Junior Age Group Championships held recently in KwaZulu-Natal proved to be an exciting event for junior swimmers across the country. The competition brought together some of South Africa’s most promising young swimmers competing in a variety of events and disciplines.
The Northern Cape should be incredibly proud of their four junior swimmers from Flamingo Aquatics who represented the province at the event. Not only did these youngsters make an impressive showing, but they also managed to break an impressive nine Northern Cape Aquatics Swimming Association (NCASA) records.
To come away from such a competitive event with 12 medals is a testament to the hard work and dedication of these young athletes. The medals are a well-deserved recognition of their commitment to the sport, and they should be celebrated for their achievements.
Nealyn Cupido, 13, said that he really enjoyed the event but mentioned that though it was exciting, it was exhausting at the same time.
“It was great to see that I improved my times at the event, and I was able to bring back two bronze medals for my hard work,” Nealyn told the DFA. “Also, I posted a new NCASA record in the backstroke,” he added.
Nealyn set a new time of 2:24.51, bettering the previous time by 2.56 seconds.
But it was not all fun and games for Nealyn. On the second day of the competition, he was admitted to hospital for suspected food poisoning, which, he said, affected his performance. But overall he said he enjoyed the experience.
“I feel honoured to be able to compete in such a big competition; it still leaves me in awe that I got medals in such an event as the nationals,” he concluded.
Nealyn’s teammate, Janco Grobbelaar, 13, was the big winner at the competition. Janco brought home a total of seven medals – one gold, four silver, and two bronze. In addition to that, he broke five NCASA records. In the 400m freestyle he set a new NCASA record with a time of 4:30.27, bettering the previous time by a whopping 12.31 seconds.
In the 100m backstroke Janco toppled another NCASA record, setting a new time of 1:05.72, 2.34 seconds under the old mark. In the 200m freestyle he set the NCASA record at 2:05.67, bettering the previous time by 7,12 seconds.
And he wasn’t done. In the 50m fly he touched the wall and set another NCASA record of 27.47 seconds, shaving 0.57 seconds off the old mark. Then in the 100m fly another NCASA record was set at 1:02,08, bettering the previous time by -2,62 seconds.
According to Janco, it was kind of challenging, but he took what he learned during practices and left everything in the pool.
“My goal was to improve my times and break records during the national event,” he said. “I feel really good that I could bring back home so many medals, and the experience that I gained at that event means just as much as the medals I brought home.”
Meanwhile, Dewet Gous, 14, also made a big splash when he brought back three medals – one gold and two bronze. He also broke three NCASA records.
Dewet told the DFA that he is always focused on personal improvement. “My goal is always to improve on my times. When I dive into the water, I try to put everything into beating my previous times,” he said, then added, “It feels great to be able to walk away with three medals and to break records at a national event.”
The fourth member of the team, Vasco Theron, 16, unfortunately did not win any medals at this year’s event.
Far from being discouraged, Vasco was full of praise and support for his teammate and determined to work harder himself.
“This is my second junior nationals I’ve attended. I recently found out that I have asthma, and it has definitely affected my swimming ability this year. The next competition I will be competing in will be the senior nationals next year, so I’ll be practising for that from now on.
“I am really proud of my teammates, but I know they can do better if they really put their mind to it,” he told the DFA.
Speaking to their coach Francois Theron it was obvious that he is super proud of his team for having done so well in the nationals.
“These boys surprised us all. I knew they would do well, but beating their personal best times was amazing, especially at the national level. It also feels great as a coach when your swimmers bring back medals; it proves that the hard work and practice paid off,” said Theron.
“My stress levels were high most of the time,” he added. “When you see your swimmers are about to break records, you cannot help but scream and cheer them on. Receiving recognition from other coaches when they approach you is also a great feeling; that just cements the fact that you are doing something right,” he concluded.
It is clear that the future of South African swimming is bright, and events like these are critical in nurturing and developing young talent. We can only hope that these young swimmers continue to pursue their passion for the sport and go on to achieve even greater success in the years to come.
