Three Union High School learners affiliated with the Destiny Swimming Academy – 𝗖𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁, 𝗗𝗮𝗻 𝗗𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗞𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗦𝗰𝗼𝘁𝘁 – took part in the 45th annual Freda Barnard Gala in Oudtshoorn from 1 to 4 October.
Considering that 𝗗𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝗹 𝗗𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁, 𝗖𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 and 𝗞𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗦𝗰𝗼𝘁𝘁 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!
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘢 𝘉𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴, 𝘴𝘪𝘹 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘖𝘶𝘥𝘵𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.
Thursday was beautifully warm, then came the pouring rain, icy winds and temperatures below 17°C, 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.
𝗗𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝗹 𝗗𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 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.
𝗖𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 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 𝗞𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗦𝗰𝗼𝘁𝘁, 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.
𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 12 𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴!
