St Andrew’s College and Diocesan School for Girls (DSG) were well represented at the SA Junior Nationals in Durban, which ended on Sunday.
FAST TIMES: DSG swimmers Toni Rafferty, left, and Emma Podesta excelled at the junior national swimming championships in DurbanDSG’s Toni Rafferty, Emma Podesta and Courtney Repinz produced excellent results.
Rafferty swam in five finals, winning a gold in the 50m freestyle and bettering her own Eastern Province record.
She also took silver medals in the 100m freestyle, breaking her EP record, and the 50m butterfly, as well as a fourth place in the 100m butterfly.
Podesta came 10th in the 50m backstroke and eighth in the 100m butterfly.
Martin Wolmarans, Oliva Lange and Joss Hempel of St Andrew’s also stood out.
Lange won the bronze medal in the 200m breaststroke, while Wolmarans and Hempel made numerous finals, finishing 4th in some races.
Overall, a total of 47 junior world-championship qualification times were achieved at the Kings Park Aquatics Centre.
In the 200m breaststroke, Ruan Breytenbach, 16, clocked his fifth junior qualification time and claimed the gold in 2:19.37, while Matthew Randle, 15, Luan Grobbelaar, 17, and Michael Deans, 18, also added the event to their list of junior qualification times in 2:20.61, 2:17.62 and 2:19.35.
Grobbelaar made it five qualification times when he won the 200m backstroke in a fast 2:04.55 to the 2:04.87 Fina requirement, while Cristopher Strydom, 12, Darno van der Merwe, 14, Zander Landman, 15, and Dylan Wright, 16, celebrated their age-group victories in 2:26.32, 2:17.34, 2:08.24 and 2:05.24 respectively.
Tailyn Seyffert, 16, bagged gold in the 200m breaststroke with a junior qualification time of 2:33.65 ahead of Rebecca Meder in 2:37.59 and Taylor Pharoah in 2:41.07, while Hannah Pearse, 15, finished the 200m backstroke with a junior qualification time of 2:17.38.
Meder won the gold in the 200m backstroke in 2:18.98.
The 100m butterfly saw Matthew Sates, 15, win gold in 55.60, while Sirhaan Mia, 12, Namibia’s Mikah Burger, 14, Gavin Smith, 16, and Henju Duvenhage, 17, all topped their age-group races in 1:04.75, 1:00.11, 56.02 and 55.78.
In the women’s 100m butterfly, Khwezi Jacobs, 12, Tazmyn Robson, 13, Veronique Rossouw, 14, Trinity Hearne, 15, Kerryn Herbst, 16, and Bianca Opperman, 17, all scooped gold in 1:13.21, 1:06.77, 1:04.42, 1:02.63, 1:03.10 and 1:03.39 respectively.
Kian Keylock, 13, won a gold medal in the 200m breaststroke in 2:30.06.
In the women’s 200m breaststroke, Ruby Dixon, 13, maintained her record with a gold in 2:42.70, with golds also going to Caitlin Ruane, 12, in 2:46.77, Dakota Tucker, 14, in 2:38.47, Paige Brombacher, 15, in 2:38.81 and Hanim Abrahams, 18, in 2:35.84.
Dixon also claimed the top spot in the 200m backstroke in 2:24.08, while Milla Drakopoulos, 12, won her age-group event in 2:34.40.
Emma Christianson, 13, touched the wall in 2:18.94 and Megan Tully won the 17-18 backstroke in 2:19.23.
The Junior World Swimming Championships will be held in Budapest, Hungary, from August 20-25.
Diocesan School for Girls swimmers in medal hunt
Image: Supplied
St Andrew’s College and Diocesan School for Girls (DSG) were well represented at the SA Junior Nationals in Durban, which ended on Sunday.
FAST TIMES: DSG swimmers Toni Rafferty, left, and Emma Podesta excelled at the junior national swimming championships in DurbanDSG’s Toni Rafferty, Emma Podesta and Courtney Repinz produced excellent results.
Rafferty swam in five finals, winning a gold in the 50m freestyle and bettering her own Eastern Province record.
She also took silver medals in the 100m freestyle, breaking her EP record, and the 50m butterfly, as well as a fourth place in the 100m butterfly.
Podesta came 10th in the 50m backstroke and eighth in the 100m butterfly.
Martin Wolmarans, Oliva Lange and Joss Hempel of St Andrew’s also stood out.
Lange won the bronze medal in the 200m breaststroke, while Wolmarans and Hempel made numerous finals, finishing 4th in some races.
Overall, a total of 47 junior world-championship qualification times were achieved at the Kings Park Aquatics Centre.
In the 200m breaststroke, Ruan Breytenbach, 16, clocked his fifth junior qualification time and claimed the gold in 2:19.37, while Matthew Randle, 15, Luan Grobbelaar, 17, and Michael Deans, 18, also added the event to their list of junior qualification times in 2:20.61, 2:17.62 and 2:19.35.
Grobbelaar made it five qualification times when he won the 200m backstroke in a fast 2:04.55 to the 2:04.87 Fina requirement, while Cristopher Strydom, 12, Darno van der Merwe, 14, Zander Landman, 15, and Dylan Wright, 16, celebrated their age-group victories in 2:26.32, 2:17.34, 2:08.24 and 2:05.24 respectively.
Tailyn Seyffert, 16, bagged gold in the 200m breaststroke with a junior qualification time of 2:33.65 ahead of Rebecca Meder in 2:37.59 and Taylor Pharoah in 2:41.07, while Hannah Pearse, 15, finished the 200m backstroke with a junior qualification time of 2:17.38.
Meder won the gold in the 200m backstroke in 2:18.98.
The 100m butterfly saw Matthew Sates, 15, win gold in 55.60, while Sirhaan Mia, 12, Namibia’s Mikah Burger, 14, Gavin Smith, 16, and Henju Duvenhage, 17, all topped their age-group races in 1:04.75, 1:00.11, 56.02 and 55.78.
In the women’s 100m butterfly, Khwezi Jacobs, 12, Tazmyn Robson, 13, Veronique Rossouw, 14, Trinity Hearne, 15, Kerryn Herbst, 16, and Bianca Opperman, 17, all scooped gold in 1:13.21, 1:06.77, 1:04.42, 1:02.63, 1:03.10 and 1:03.39 respectively.
Kian Keylock, 13, won a gold medal in the 200m breaststroke in 2:30.06.
In the women’s 200m breaststroke, Ruby Dixon, 13, maintained her record with a gold in 2:42.70, with golds also going to Caitlin Ruane, 12, in 2:46.77, Dakota Tucker, 14, in 2:38.47, Paige Brombacher, 15, in 2:38.81 and Hanim Abrahams, 18, in 2:35.84.
Dixon also claimed the top spot in the 200m backstroke in 2:24.08, while Milla Drakopoulos, 12, won her age-group event in 2:34.40.
Emma Christianson, 13, touched the wall in 2:18.94 and Megan Tully won the 17-18 backstroke in 2:19.23.
The Junior World Swimming Championships will be held in Budapest, Hungary, from August 20-25.
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