Local swimmer brings home silver in junior world championships
Jarden Eaton of Fourways took the Fina Junior World Swimming Championships in his stride as he achieved a silver alongside three swimmers in the mixed-medley format of the tournament.
A Fourways swimmer has made great strides bringing home a silver medal at a recent swimming championship in Lima, Peru.
Jarden Eaton (17) was part of the 4x100m men’s relay team that returned to South Africa with a silver medal at the Fina Junior World Swimming Championships that took place between August 30 and September 4.
His teammates were Aside Jarden who swam butterfly, Pieter Coetzee who swam backstroke, Kian Keylock who swam breaststroke and Luca Holtzhausen who swam freestyle.
While the team was narrowly beaten by Poland to clinch silver, the Fourways-based swimmer recalled the moment of obtaining silver as one of the best of his life. “The feeling was overwhelming, beaming with pride and excitement. I could not stop smiling. I was so grateful for the opportunity to compete at this level and achieve success, truly a mind-blowing and humbling experience,” he said.
Training and playing in Peru was a highlight for Jarden as he looked back on some of his favourite moments of the trip, which included the different cultures experienced and travelling to the event.
“Everything was so professional. The hotel and service were amazing – food not as good as in South Africa though. [I] met many new friends and had an awesome competition. The flight was extremely long though; it took us 40 hours to get there and the same return – the jet lag has been tough.”
Jden has been swimming since 2014 under the guidance of coach Richard Little from Crusaders and a number of local swimming events under his belt.
With this being the first on the global stage for him, he took part in the following at the junior world championships:
- 100m butterfly
- 50m freestyle
- 50m butterfly
- 4x100m freestyle relay
- 4x200m freestyle relay
- 4x100m mixed-medley events.
Looking to the future, Jarden has a number of goals lined up, but has acknowledged that competition is tough and there is a lot that can be improved on.
“My short-term goal is to work harder, to compete more internationally and represent my country to the best of my ability. Hopefully, [I can] achieve some gold medals internationally over the next year, being my last year as a junior.
“My longer-term goals is to be a world champion in butterfly or freestyle event, and maybe break some major records.”
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