Gqeberha swimmers embrace altitude challenge at USSAs

The Madibaz swimming team are ready to battle both opponent and rarified air at the University Sports South Africa gala on the Highveld this weekend.

The annual competition takes place in Pretoria on Friday and Saturday.

“It’s going to be interesting to race at altitude, which I haven’t experienced since I was in matric in 2020,” Mandela University’s experienced breaststroker and team captain Dylan Botha said.

“It definitely does have an impact on performances; possibly by a second to a second-and-a-half per 50 metres. That is why we often have national swimming events at the coast.”

Botha, who will spearhead a small contingent of four men and four women in Tuks’ backyard, said they were up for the challenge.

He was particularly curious to find out how they measured up against their peers from around the country.

“We come up against some really top swimmers from Tuks and Maties, and then there are those who are aiming to compete at a higher level.”

He saw the event as the perfect test ahead of the short-course nationals in Durban later this month.

The latter is a qualification event for the world short-course championships in Budapest in December.

“That is something a lot of us are working towards,” Botha, who has entered the breaststroke, butterfly and individual medley events at the USSAs, said.

Madibaz Sport aquatics manager Melinda Goosen expected defending champions Tuks, Maties and Varsity College to rise to the top.

However, that does not mean that the team from Gqeberha are finding themselves without any opportunities.

“For example, Dylan finished seventh in the 200m breaststroke finals at the Olympic trials and will be keen to do well,” Goosen explained.

On the women’s side, the team’s standout swimmer, Abigail Swanepoel, will want to make her mark in the distance events and 200m ‘fly.

The fact that the competition will be streamed on SuperSport Schools will be a strong incentive to do well.

“We’re so excited as this year’s competition will be the first to be covered live,” Goosen, who believed that this aspect alone would already push the competition to new heights, said.

The annual event is hosted on a rotational basis among the institutions with the necessary facilities, alternating between coastal and inland venues.