Reddam House pupil to take on the Midmar Mile

In order to qualify, he was required to swim two open-water events before the Midmar event.

On 11 January, he swam his first official dam event held at the Deneysville Yacht Club on the Vaal. The race consisted of 139 open-water swimmers.

Merritt completed the 1 200 metre swim in a time of 19 minutes 14 seconds, crossing the finish line in fourth place for his age category.

Reddam House recognised Merritt’s talent after testing him in the pool in April last year.

At that stage he had only been swimming seriously for two months. He joined the school shortly thereafter.