Three Union High School learners affiliated with the Destiny Swimming Academy – ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐, ๐๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ – took part in the 45th annual Freda Barnard Gala in Oudtshoorn from 1 to 4 October.
Considering that ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐ฒ๐น ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐, ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ and ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ had been out of the pool for four months and had managed just 12 training sessions before heading to Oudtshoorn, we think they can be pretty pleased with how their weekend turned out!
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ข ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ๐ด, ๐ด๐ช๐น ๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ถ๐ฅ๐ต๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ.
Thursday was beautifully warm, then came the pouring rain, icy winds and temperatures below 17ยฐC, before Sunday finally decided to send everyone home with some sunshine. Through it all, our three Union swimmers simply got on with the job – and produced some really exciting results along the way.
๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐ฒ๐น ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ had a particularly good return to competition, swimming PB after PB. He won the 100m Backstroke in 1:14.92, taking a huge 7.26 seconds off his previous best; finished second in the 100m Breaststroke with another 5.21-second PB and took third in the 50m Backstroke, also in a new personal best.
He added further PBs in the 200m IM, 200m Breaststroke, 50m Butterfly and 100m Freestyle – and, best of all, qualified for SA Level 3 in every one of his individual events. Daniel also helped his team to second place in the 200m Freestyle Relay and fourth in the 200m Medley Relay.
๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ clearly decided that if she was going back to racing, she might as well do it properly! She took a remarkable 11.46 seconds off her 100m Backstroke time and an enormous 18.50 seconds off her 200m IM, while also improving her 50m Backstroke by 2.89 seconds.
Catie also secured her SA Level 2 qualification, making it a very successful return to competition.
And for ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐, this Freda Barnard Gala was an especially memorable one as it marked her very first gala as a registered SSA swimmer. Kate recorded PBs across her racing and produced a particularly strong 400m Freestyle – a wonderful start to this new chapter of competitive swimming.
๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฉ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ 12 ๐ด๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. ๐๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฆ๐น๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ช๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด!
