50 years and still afloat

Members of the Newcastle Swimming Club are in fine form.

The club expressed its pride at a number of recent achievements on a national level, continuing the proud heritage of the club.

First was the South African Open Water Nationals in March.

Abigail Peters, Gustav Boshoff and Francois Weyers competed at this event, and Abigail finished 10th overall in the three kilometre swim, and 12th in the 5km swim.

“This is an outstanding achievement for a swimmer of her age – this means she placed in the top 10 in South Africa for her events,” explained managers of the club.

Francois Weyers placed 18th overall in the 3km event and 17th in the 5km swim, which earned him a spot in the South African top 20 rankings.

With a 25th overall in the 3km event, Gustav Boshoff also did his club proud.

“Newcastle Swimming Club has produced many national swimmers over the years, and aims to continue this tradition.”

From March 31 to April 3, the Level 1 and 2 National galas were hosted in Durban.

Swimming their way to the top were:

Kayla Pretorius – competed in seven finals.

Jany Schnetler qualified for four finals, and earned one silver and one bronze medal.

Abigail Peters made a sterling 10 finals, bringing home one gold and three bronze medals.

Gustav Boshoff competed in five finals, finishing with a gold and a bronze medal.

Capping off her week with two finals was Narissa Fourie.

Francois Weyers also made three finals.

Special mention was made of Arno van Zyl, Sharur Ramautar and Cameron Fenton, who all qualified for the Level 1 gala, but were unable to attend.

“Well done to all our swimmers for ending the season with a bang! All swimmers, parents and coaches, thank you for all your hard work and dedication throughout the season. You have done us proud – we hope to see you all back and smiling next season.”