Amanzimtoti High learner wins SA titles at lifesaving champs
Tyne van Achterbergh added more silver and gold medals to his name – recently obtained at the ILS Africa Championships.
TYNE van Achterbergh (17) won six gold and two silver medals for Lifesaving South Africa’s President’s team at the ILS Africa Championships that were held at Addington Beach recently.
The Amanzimtoti High School learner, who received gold in surf swim, board relay, Taplin, mixed Taplin and tube rescue, and silver in run-swim-run and board, was part of the South African team that took the overall win.
Also read: Amanzimtoti fighters make the KZN training squad
Then, from March 21 to 23, Tyne represented Scottburgh Lifesaving Club at the Lifesaving SA National Championships at Addington Beach.
His mother, Natalie, said that due to extreme weather conditions, the championships were cut short and he was not able to compete in more events.
“The two events he was able to do were the U17 board event, where he won gold and the SA Board Champion title, as well as the seniors/open age group, where he won gold and the SA Surf Swim Champion title. This is the most prestigious event of lifesaving. He placed first out of 39 men,” she said.
Tyne said Africa Champs was an amazing experience as he got to meet people from all over the continent.
“As far as competing went, it was good to have some competition outside of South Africa. We couldn’t have asked for better conditions for the championships. However, the SA Lifesaving Championships was a bit of a disappointment as we had all trained and put the hours in only to be let down by ‘King Neptune’ and rough sea conditions. Although having been faced with challenging conditions, I was lucky enough to have all the hard training pay off by winning the two titles,” he said.
Tyne was also selected to represent the KZN Junior Lifesaving Team at the Inter-provincial Lifesaving Championships in Gqeberha from April 4 and 5. It is the first year that he and his sister, Holleigh, a nipper, represented the province together.
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