One thing is certain: when Tuks swimmers dive in, they swim to win—as they proved this past weekend again at the South African Short Course Swimming Championships in Pietermaritzburg.
Over four days of competition, the swimmers won 11 gold medals in individual events, plus 15 silver and 11 bronze.
Georgia Nel was one of the standout performers; she won gold in the 50m freestyle, the 100m individual medley, and the 200m individual medley, and placed second in the 100m freestyle. Both of her individual medley winning times (1:01.65 and 2:13.10 beat the B-qualifying standard for the World Short Course Swimming Championships.
“I was looking to go a little faster. I would have really liked to have gotten the A time, but I can’t be upset with a B time and a win and a PB,” said Nel after winning the 100m individual medley.
Other Tuks swimmers who surpassed the B-qualifying standard for the World Short Course Championships include Stephanie Houtman (1500m freestyle – 16:13.28 and 800m freestyle – 8:36.66), Shaun Thomas (200m breaststroke – 2:09.89), Sofia French (400m individual medley – 4:45.79 and 200m individual medley – 2:13.10), Chris Smith (50m breaststroke – 29.21s and 100m breaststroke – 57.88s), Callan Lotter (800m freestyle – 8:30.03), Mia van der Linde (100m backstroke – 59.35s), and Anje van As (100m butterfly – 59.21s).
For those who don’t know, French achieved seven distinctions last year as TuksSport High School’s top matriculant. She is studying mechanical engineering this year. She continues to rack up distinctions, although she admits her marks aren’t quite as high as she’s used to.
“I surprised myself with the times I swam. I did not expect to be so fast. Going into the 400m individual medley, I told myself to go for it; there’s nothing to lose, and let’s try my best. And then during the race, I felt so strong…”
One of the highlights of the championships was without doubt the rivalry between Michael Houlie and Chris Smith in the 50 and 100 metres breaststroke. Houlie won both, but he can’t afford to rest on his laurels.
Smith (Tuks) said he relished the rivalry. “I always love having Michael next to me when I race. With Michael you never know. It’s always 50/50. I take one, he takes the other one. But I always think I can win it. This time around, it wasn’t in my favour.”
Second-year civil engineering student Shaun Thomas is definitely someone to watch. Earlier this year, at the South African Senior Championships in Gqeberha, he won the 200m breaststroke—his first national title. This weekend, he claimed his second title in the event. His winning time of 2:09.89 is nearly three seconds faster than his previous personal best. He believes he can run even faster.
“I love the challenge that comes with breaststroke; it’s one of the most technical events. In other words, there’s always something you can work on to go that little bit faster. If I can improve my start and my turns, I could easily shave off a second or two. My top-end speed needs to improve as well; I was in fifth place after the first 100m of the 200m breaststroke.”
