In the pool, the one was poetry in motion, focusing stroke for stroke as he aimed to add another medal to his out-of-this-world tally.

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On the chess board, the other shackled his brain to the gymnasium of the mind, making all the right moves to be an integral part of his team’s success.

These two local sport stars, Raymond de Freitas and Banele Mhango, flew the Lowveld flag high when they both walked away with the ultimate recognition of their hard work – the respective titles of sportsman and sports star of the year at the Mpumalanga Sports Awards held at Emnotweni on Saturday.

Mhango (16), who hails from Pienaar, is regarded as the best thing to have happened to chess in long time and received top honours to prove this title. The ‘Master’, as he is affectionately known in the sport, beat a strong field to win the top award. According to Danielia van Heerden, Secretary of Ehlanzeni Chess, Mhango started playing chess at a very young age, initially coached by his older brother, Senzo. “He has always been a force to be reckoned with, ending in the top two more often than not,” she said.

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He has represented Ehlanzeni Chess at numerous SA Junior Chess Championships over the years. He has been selected to play at the SA Junior Closed Chess Championship for a few years now, and he is currently the u/16 SA national champion.

In 2017 Banele represented South Africa in Egypt. He finished third in his age group and earned the title of Candidate Master. During August 2018, he represented South Africa in Kenya at the African Youth Chess Championship, where he earned the title ‘Fide Master’ by ending in shared first place.

“We are so happy that Banele was recognised for all the hours of hard work that he spent practising and preparing for the next big achievement, by winning the Mpumalanga Sport Star of the Year award. We truly believe that he deserves it,” Van Heerden said.

Banele’s ultimate dream is to become a Chess Grandmaster. De Freitas is one of the Lowveld’s swimming superstars who has Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism, which has made his journey an emotional roller coaster, filled with success and frustration.

He has travelled to Italy, Israel and New Caledonia to represent his country, and has collected more swimming medals than the drawers in his room can contain.

“Raymond was denied a proper education at first. We really struggled to get him into a school that understood his condition and was willing to help. Things started to change when he enrolled at Dasha at age 12,” said his mom, Mena, who has supported him through various hardships. “However, Raymond took to swimming like a duck to water, and instantly showed a talent for the pool after he had been introduced to the sport at a gala event,” said Mena.

Here are the rest of the winners:

Sport Administrator of the Year
Frank Mbele
School Team of the Year
Morgenzon Agricultural High
Newcomer of the Year
Okuhle Mke
Volunteer of the Year
Florence Webb Deysel
Indigenous Games Star of the Year
Banele Shabangu
Team of the Year
TS Galaxy
Coach of the Year
Theresa Rossouw
Sports Woman of the Year (with disability)
Gopolang Johanna Mogale
Sports Women of the Year
Zara D’Abbadie
Sports Man of the Year (with disability)
Raymond de Freitas
Sport Man of the Year
Jannie Degenaar
Sport Fan of the Year
Manyovu
Sport Journalist of the Year
Bono Swagg
Photographer of the Year
Richard Nkosi
Lifetime Achievement Award
Christelle van Wetten
Legends Awards
Josiah Thugwane, Phiri Ngomane and Cypril Maimane