WBHS wins KZN Top 8 Gala
If WBHS win the Durban and Districts Championship Gala on Wednesday, 4 March they will have been undefeated for eight years.
WESTVILLE Boys’ High School’s swimming teams are having another exceptional year: after winning two interprovincial galas the previous week, WBHS was determined to maintain its status as KZN Champions for the eighth successive year on Tuesday night.
Clifton College and Glenwood have developed formidable swimming squads in the last few years, while Kearsney College also spent time recently developing their swimming. The 2015 KZN Top 8 Gala therefore promised to be an exciting affair.
The first five freestyle races set the tone for the rest of the evening, with WBHS winning all of them and Clifton College and Kearsney fighting it out for second and third places.
WBHS came slightly unstuck in the breaststroke events, winning three of the five races. After winning the U15 race they were disqualified on a technicality and the honours went to Glenwood. In the U16 event, Glenwood’s team was too strong for the opposition and won comfortably.
Stung by the two losses WBHS struck back, winning 14 events in a row – all of the backstroke and butterfly events and four of the five medley races. As happened last year, the Westville U19 medley team was beaten by Clifton.
Westville won the final event of the evening – the five age freestyle relay.
At the end of the evening’s proceedings WBHS had won 23 of the 26 races on the programme. Their U14 and U17 age groups emerged undefeated while their U15, U16 and U19 age groups suffered one defeat each.
Clifton College finished a comfortable second with Kearsney getting the better of Glenwood for third place on the evening.
If Westville win the Durban and Districts Championship Gala on Wednesday, 4 March, they will have been undefeated for eight years.
Currently they have won 72 galas without suffering a defeat. What may encourage their opponents is that WBHS has developed a habit of getting disqualified for making careless technical mistakes even when they are well clear of their competitors in certain races. If they continue with this habit and get disqualified often enough on 4 March there may well be a new D&D champion.
