Mauritian gold for swimming ‘Gem’
Gemma took the whole experience in her stride, despite not having her friends around, having to adjust to a foreign language and not having her coach by her side.
Gemma Allchin (11) has had a phenomenal time of it in the swimming pool of late.
She is a grade 6 pupil at Creston College and is also a registered Level 3 swimmer.
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Her specialises in breaststroke but she also races in all the other strokes as well.
Gemma belongs to Blue Oceans Aquatics Swim Club and trains with coach Mandy Koegelenberg.
At the end of March she attended the SA Level 3 Regional Championships in Bloemfontein where she won three medals for her breaststroke events – gold (50m), silver (100m) and bronze (200m).
She then swam in the KZN schools provincial swimming trials last month, where she won three silver Medals for her breaststroke events – 50m, 100m and 200m.
At the end of April, she travelled to Mauritius with her parents Noel and Debra where she took part in the country’s main swimming event of the year – the 2019 National Winter Championships.
This was a five day event and is also used for national rankings.
She swam beautifully and won five medals, three gold, one silver and one bronze, also making it to the top eight women’s overall open finals.
In the final of the 100m, she swam a personal best and came third overall, winning the bronze medal.
This was quite something as the girl who won was 18 years old.
As a result of this superb swim, she was asked to take part in the women’s open 4x100m medley relay, where she swam the 100m breaststroke leg.
Her teammates were aged 19, 17 and 16 and the placed second overall.
Gemma swam the 50m butterfly event and placed fourth in her age group.
She also swam a personal best in her 200m breaststroke open final.
Not only did she win medals but she also broke three national records for her breaststroke events in her age category.
Gemma took the whole experience in her stride, despite not having her friends around, having to adjust to a foreign language and not having her coach by her side.
Her mom, who cheered so much she nearly lost her voice, felt Gemma had really grown in character and maturity through being able to compete in an event like this.
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