Clifton’s Samuel Booysen is officially the fastest man on sand in SA in 2023.
Booysen blitzed the field on the opening day of the DHL Lifesaving SA National Club Championships in Gqeberha, winning all his heats en route to an emphatic victory in the final.
The men’s open sprint final is among the marquee events at any lifesaving competition and in SA, the name Ryle de Morny was traditionally the big winner over the last decade.
De Morny is not competing at this year’s nationals and Booysen’s triumph could signal that the sprint baton change has finally happened.
Booysen beat Milnerton’s Ariel Mausenbaan into second place, with Summerstrand’s Nicholas Peter Kington completing the podium.
Booysen is also the favourite to win the flags, having won the flags at the 2022 World Championship in Italy. He also finished fourth in the world championship sprint.
The Open Male Beach Run was won by Keegan Cooke of Kings Beach. He beat Durban's Surf's Nhlanhla Msani and Ernest Phungula in the battle of the top three.
King’s Beach once again played host to the opening day, with the juniors and open divisions enjoying the sunshine, sand and surf.
The Nippers competition starts Friday with the pool specialists at Newton Park.
More than 1500 athletes from 34 clubs are participating in what is SA’s biggest lifesaving sporting event of the year. It is also among the most popular events for locals as the city’s best Nippers, Juniors and seniors always feature prominently among the medal winners.
Clubs from KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape are prominent across all the age groups and race divisions and one of the most popular wins on Thursday came in the Female Open Beach Relay, which was largely a Challenor family affair.
Mother Jenna and daughters Nicolette and Rylee-Lai combined with Jade Brown to take gold for Umhlanga Rocks.
The Challenor daughters and Brown then combined with Danae Botha to win the Female Junior Beach relay.
Lifesaving and winning are in the Challenor genes, with father and husband Brett a former world champion.
Clifton, Fish Hoek, Umhlanga and Llandudno, as clubs, set the pace in an ever-changing club leader board, with Umhlanga enjoying the most 1st places.
Umhlanga’s Sasha-Lee Nordengen Corris won the coveted Open Iron title, with Tannah Smith of Pirates second and Fish Hoek’s Waris Mills in third place.
Nordengen Corris, among the many South African internationals competing, is a regular winner, be it at club, provincial, national or international events, and her performance was a standout performance among the many regular faces on show.
SA’s queen of the sand Mandi Augustyn (formerly Maritz) made a welcome appearance and won gold in the Beach Flags.
Augustyn saw off the challenge of Umhlanga’s (Jade) Brown and (Nicolette) Challenor.
Fish Hoek’s Georgie Singe won the female Open Single Surf Ski, with Umhlanga’s Michelle Burn second and Saskia Hockly third.
The lifesaving spectacle, which features the best of the best, finishes on Wednesday, April 5.
• For all the results visit https://liveheats.com
Booysen blitzes field on opening day of Lifesaving SA champs in Bay
Image: FACEBOOK / LIFESAVING SA
Clifton’s Samuel Booysen is officially the fastest man on sand in SA in 2023.
Booysen blitzed the field on the opening day of the DHL Lifesaving SA National Club Championships in Gqeberha, winning all his heats en route to an emphatic victory in the final.
The men’s open sprint final is among the marquee events at any lifesaving competition and in SA, the name Ryle de Morny was traditionally the big winner over the last decade.
De Morny is not competing at this year’s nationals and Booysen’s triumph could signal that the sprint baton change has finally happened.
Booysen beat Milnerton’s Ariel Mausenbaan into second place, with Summerstrand’s Nicholas Peter Kington completing the podium.
Booysen is also the favourite to win the flags, having won the flags at the 2022 World Championship in Italy. He also finished fourth in the world championship sprint.
The Open Male Beach Run was won by Keegan Cooke of Kings Beach. He beat Durban's Surf's Nhlanhla Msani and Ernest Phungula in the battle of the top three.
King’s Beach once again played host to the opening day, with the juniors and open divisions enjoying the sunshine, sand and surf.
The Nippers competition starts Friday with the pool specialists at Newton Park.
More than 1500 athletes from 34 clubs are participating in what is SA’s biggest lifesaving sporting event of the year. It is also among the most popular events for locals as the city’s best Nippers, Juniors and seniors always feature prominently among the medal winners.
Clubs from KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape are prominent across all the age groups and race divisions and one of the most popular wins on Thursday came in the Female Open Beach Relay, which was largely a Challenor family affair.
Mother Jenna and daughters Nicolette and Rylee-Lai combined with Jade Brown to take gold for Umhlanga Rocks.
The Challenor daughters and Brown then combined with Danae Botha to win the Female Junior Beach relay.
Lifesaving and winning are in the Challenor genes, with father and husband Brett a former world champion.
Clifton, Fish Hoek, Umhlanga and Llandudno, as clubs, set the pace in an ever-changing club leader board, with Umhlanga enjoying the most 1st places.
Umhlanga’s Sasha-Lee Nordengen Corris won the coveted Open Iron title, with Tannah Smith of Pirates second and Fish Hoek’s Waris Mills in third place.
Nordengen Corris, among the many South African internationals competing, is a regular winner, be it at club, provincial, national or international events, and her performance was a standout performance among the many regular faces on show.
SA’s queen of the sand Mandi Augustyn (formerly Maritz) made a welcome appearance and won gold in the Beach Flags.
Augustyn saw off the challenge of Umhlanga’s (Jade) Brown and (Nicolette) Challenor.
Fish Hoek’s Georgie Singe won the female Open Single Surf Ski, with Umhlanga’s Michelle Burn second and Saskia Hockly third.
The lifesaving spectacle, which features the best of the best, finishes on Wednesday, April 5.
• For all the results visit https://liveheats.com
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