Grand Prix Invitation Swimming Meet
Swimming clubs from all over South Africa descended on the Van Riebeeck Park Swimming Pool on Thursday and Friday.
This started the sporting calendar off on a swimming note, as the entrants pitted themselves against each other in over 30 events.
These included the men’s and women’s freestyle, butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and individual medley.
Encompassing the u/13 age bracket to the men’s and women’s races, the two-day gala presented spectators with an exciting swimming competition which whetted the appetite for the season ahead.
After the festive break, the swimmers’ fitness levels were put to the test and the event aimed to return their focus to the sport. The swimmers did not disappoint, much to the approval of the spectators.
Always an exciting race to watch, the 50-metre freestyle attracted much attention as the swimmers kept their feet on the gas, accelerating through the water to stamp their mark on this fast race.
In the men’s 50-metre freestyle, Pieter Coetzé, Kobe Ndebele and Matthew Bosch claimed the first three places respectively. Coetzé recorded 24,69, Ndebele 24,95 and Bosch 24,97.
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This is a fair indication of just how tight the race between the three was as they launched lightning-fast strokes and paddled furiously to keep the other contenders at bay.
The boys’ u/13 sprint was also a marvel to watch, with Tingwei Deng, Eric Huang and Jean-Arno Cilliers launching themselves through the water to clinch the first three top spots. Deng achieved first place in a time of 1:01,94, followed by Huang in 1:04,12 and Cilliers 1:04,58.
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The quality of the competition over these two days is a sure indication of the level of competition the swimmers will be facing in the water this year.
