Judging by the results of the South African Open Water Championships, swimming fast and far is one of the fortes for Tuks’s female swimmers.
They made a clean sweep over the weekend at the Marina Martinique near Jeffreys Bay, competing over 10 kilometres at the South African Open Water Championships.
The 17-year-old Callan Lotter won the 10km event in 2 hours, 8 minutes and 54 seconds. Tory Earle was second swimming at 2:08:55. Last year’s defending champion Amica de Jager, was third, clocking 2:09:01.
Lotter is seemingly an “old hand” in winning medals at the South African Open Water Championships. Last year she was victorious over 5km (girls under-16). In 2020 she won over 3km (girls under-13).
“Winning gold in the 10km event was a bonus. My aim was to be victorious over 7.5km (girls under-18). I still felt strong when I did so, so I decided to keep swimming and see what I could do over the latter stages of the longer event.
“I definitely benefitted from swimming with the two-time Olympian Michelle Weber and Amica (De Jager). They helped me go faster but not overexert myself. The pace they set was perfect.
Lotter was clocked swimming 1:35:49 over 7.5 kilometres. It means she upped her gold medal tally at the national championships to four. Being the 10km champion means she can be selected for the South African team competing at the World Open Water Championships.
The Tuks youngster is quite versatile. Last year she represented South Africa at the World Junior Championships. She finished 12th in both the 800 and 1500m freestyle events. Another highlight was winning five gold medals during last year’s South African junior championships.
When Lotter was younger, she participated in most sports, but the challenges that came with swimming got her adrenaline pumping. In 2018 a friend convinced her to give open-water swimming a go. She immediately qualified to swim the 3km at the SA Open Water Champs.
“I quickly realised that open-water swimming comes with its own unique challenges. You definitely got to be fit. But it is about more than just that. To be competitive, you also need to be mentally and physically tough. It is guaranteed that you will be bumped around during a race. You got to deal with it and keep on swimming.”
The women’s 5-kilometre event boiled down to a duel between the USA’s Kate Beavon and Tuks’s De Jager. The American ended up pipping De Jager by a second, winning in a time of 1:02:13. De Jager swam 1:02:14. In doing the Tuks swimmer ensured that she was eligible to compete at the World Champs over 5 kilometres.
An ecstatic De Jager was thrilled with the result.