Young swimmers make waves at Swim Studio’s awards
Swimmers of every age group from 22 different schools who are learning the swimming techniques at Swim Studio, were invited to determine the best learner for 2024 in each category.
The Swim Studio celebrated their 30th year of serving the Newcastle community safely, with yet another very successful series of AWARDS DAYS.
With family and friends first enjoying their loved ones’ achievements in the pool, every single swimmer was rewarded afterwards for their hard work and progress.
Great fun was had by the youngsters on the crocodile jumping castle, enjoying food, nature and the ducks in the tranquil gardens of the Swim Studio.
This week we will announce half of the winners.
The Trophy for the Best 6yr old Boy and Girl Swimmer went to two GrR learners, Siyabonga(Mona) Ngwenya from Sunnybank and Reabilwe Mofokeng from Curro St Doms, respectively. Reabilwe started her swimming career with Camille as a baby and is one of only a handful of swimmers in the 30-year history of the Swim Studio, to already have achieved the first two Olympic strokes in 2023, at the age of 5, a year before going to big school! She is now learning the last two complicated strokes, the breaststroke and butterfly, in conjunction with her physical growth and development.
Luca Ndlela from Drakies and Peyton Mason from Hutties were victorious in being awarded the Best 7yr Boy and Girl Trophies. While Luca — who attends lessons only every other Saturday from 2-3pm — had few rivals at his standard, Peyton faced tough competition presented by several of her friends who are also swimming very well already, e.g. Keran Zhou and Andzani Ngobeni, also from Hutties. These Gr1 learners are collected from Hutties straight after school, 2x per week by the Swim Studio bus, and are either returned to aftercare at Hutties or fetched by their parents from the Swim Studio after their lesson, whichever suits the parents best.
Another Huttie, Duan Boardman in Gr3, received the Trophy for the Most Improved Boy Swimmer of 2024. Duan, who could barely swim when he switched to Swim Studio, already now swims backstroke beautifully, whilst still having to master the front crawl.
The Trophy for the Most Spirited Boy Swimmer for 2024 went to Tayden Sanashi from Klein Spoortjies. Tayden, who was very scared initially, just does not miss any lessons. Even if he is a bit sick and is told to rather not attend, he would insist on coming with, even just watching the swimming.
Precious Nyide, in Gr6 at Newcastle Senior Primary was awarded the Most Spirited Girl Swimmer for 2024. Having mastered all four Olympic strokes already, Precious is now busy learning the minimum of seven turns, to be used in the Individual Medley. She at times assists Camille in teaching the less experienced swimmers. One really needs to be confident knowing the techniques and skills yourself before you can teach others. Being properly skilled in swimming opens multiple pleasant career paths for anyone who enjoys being in the water.
The Most Co-operative Boy Trophy was awarded to 6-year-old Langelihle Mnisi from Curro St Doms, who now moved to Hutties for Gr1. Langa, who is very well mannered and helpful on the bus, is the youngest of three siblings of mom, Dr Fiki Mnisi, who all learnt water safety and swimming at Swim Studio over the years.
Seven-year-old Amahle Shabangu from Drakies is testimony to the fact that dynamite comes in small packages! Amahle, who only started lessons in 2024, is a model learner, she is eager to learn and always gives her best – which resulted in her receiving 5 badges already. Amahle received the Trophy for the Most Co-operative Girl of 2024.
Another amazingly talented youngster is 4-year-old Blu Beneke, currently in Sunnybank. She was awarded the Trophy for the Most Advanced Girl for any Age. Blu’s dad, Matthew, who came down from Gauteng especially to attend her achievements, was a Best Senior Boy Trophy winner at Swim Studio himself, in 2008!
Watch this space for more exciting well-deserved Trophy winners, aged 8 and older, next week!
See photos below:
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