Seals deliver top results

North Coast swimming club, the Seals, were a force to be reckoned with in their first galas back after more than a year of not swimming competitively.

Over the past 2 weekends, the Seals swam in both the Levels District Gala in Pietermaritzburg and the South African Junior and Senior National (SANJ) Championships at King’s Park.

Fourteen swimmers represented the North Coast at the SANJ gala which was hosted as a regional event with no spectators allowed to attend.

This gala is extremely competitive, pitting South Africa’s best young swimmers against each other.

The 14 swimmers bagged 20 podium positions, winning 1 gold, 6 silver and 13 bronze medals.

They also secured final positions in the top 10 for many of their races with most reaching their age specific pre-Covid SANJ times before the close of the swimming season.

The younger swimmers competed in Pietermaritzburg and delivered similar results in the competitive age group structure.

The Level 3 team of 16 swimmers achieved an outstanding 39 podium positions and won 13 gold, 15 silver and 11 bronze.

The Level 2 team with 9 swimmers took home 12 podium positions with 9 gold medals, 2 silver, and 1 bronze.

There were 2 Level 1 swimmers, José Cardoso (9) and Rachel Rodd (8), who achieved 7 podium positions, winning 2 gold, 4 silver and 1 bronze medal between them.

The team swam exceptionally well with many new personal bests set by the swimmers who also dropped several seconds off their times.