Swimmers achieve their best

Swimmers Justine MacFarlane (17), Nathania van Niekerk (14) and Brent Szurdoki (16) are the three South African swimmers who made it to the finals.
“This was our very first competition as a team. We train really hard. Not so often did we have time to do anything else,” said Van Niekerk.

MacFarlane who ranked top five and was highest achiever in her team said she had been swimming competitively from the age of nine and joined Waterborn Swimming School five years ago.

“I enjoy the sport, it is good for me competitively, but I love it because it keeps me fit,” said MacFarlane. According to Szurdoki there were 20 swimmers from South Africa who competed in Dubai, but only three made it to the finals.

“This was a good experience for us to do this together, it brought us a lot closer and we had fun,” said Szurdoki.

Owner of Waterborn, Peter Williams said, “I established Waterborn in 1997 and there has been quite a generation of children who have come to our facility at Virgin Active. What differentiated our team was the high level technique training. We have created a team based atmosphere. We spend a lot of time training. We also get the parents to understand the sport, so they can support their children. I make sure not to set up an environment where I am only focused on the top swimmers. This then creates a very happy relationship.”

The swimmers were impressed with their achievements and were proud to represent South Africa and more locally the Randburg community. “The swimmers did really well, and they have all achieved their personal best. I am proud of them. We most certainly plan to improve and do better next time,” said Williams.