St Teresa’s School’s top swimmer, Grade 11 learner Tyra Penn, recently made the school proud with her exceptional achievements at the recent South African National Junior Aquatics Championships.

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Tyra explained that her achievements were a long time coming. “I believe I’ve been training quite hard, especially in December. I didn’t really get a holiday or rest. I swam at training camps, one was in Port Elizabeth and the other one was in Stellenbosch, and we trained for four hours every day, doing approximately 10km of training a day.”

The swimmer competed in five events, qualifying for four finals and earning an impressive four medals: one gold, two silver, and one bronze. “I started swimming before I was even a year old, so that I could be safe in the water. My mom was a swimmer, who loves doing long, open-water swims. Compared to a lot of other people, I started swimming competitively a lot later. I only started club swimming at 13, whereas other people start from a much younger age.”

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Both of Tyra’s silver medals were achieved from outside lanes, highlighting her determination and competitive spirit in the recent competition. She also recorded two personal bests during the competition. She noted that her accolades included making senior nationals after her first junior nationals.

Tyra added that one day she aspires to represent South Africa. “Whether it be meeting African champs, or even world champs, or the Olympics one day. My hopes also include going across to the United States to swim and study there.”

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