Bryanston learners conquer open waters
Bryanston High School learners returned from the Midmar Mile with good finish times.
In keeping up with the school’s traditions, 60 learners from Bryanston High School travelled to the KZN dam on February 9, to participate in the Midmar Mile.
The open-water race, which celebrated its 51st year in 2024, has featured learners from the school since as far back as principal Jerome Lawrence remembers.
“This has been a tradition; we’ve sent teams down for the last 21 years and before my time, we’ve been sending kids down to swim the Midmar Mile,” said Lawrence. “Some staff were swimming as well. They all participated; they all managed to complete the swim in, I believe, very horrible conditions this year.”
The school’s open-water swimming teacher Chantelle du Plessis arranged time on February 16, to arrange interviews with the three learners who completed the race with the best times. Du Plessis also shared feedback from how the learners performed at the Midmar.
“Caleb du Toit in Grade 11 is Bryanston High School’s fastest open-water swimmer; Caleb swam the Midmar Mile in 00:27:40. He also came 24th out of 1 394 swimmers.
“Tatum Jay is a Grade 12 learner; she is my fastest female swimmer. She completed the Midmar Mile in 00:31:29.
“Callum Koekemoer, a Grade 8 learner, did his very first Midmar Mile this year in 00:37:00 which made him my fastest junior swimmer.”
The learners were asked what challenges they faced during the race; this is what they had to say:
I experienced waves in the water, they were quite bad.
This is going to sound very weird, but a lot of the time I just pick a song and repeat a couple of the same words in my head the whole time.
This year’s weather conditions were extremely shocking, to be honest with you. I just kept in mind what my coaches have been telling me – ‘just keep going, and just strive until the end’.
I kept feeling myself shifting to the right of the lake. I had to regroup back into the race. I was thinking about finishing on time so I would receive colours for this year.
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