Swimming – EP Trails

๐——๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—น ๐——๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜ and ๐—ญ๐—ผรซ ๐— ๐—ถ๐—น๐—น๐˜€ delivered commendable performances at the Eastern Cape Provincial Trials this weekend, competing against some of the strongest swimmers in the province.

๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ณ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ง๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ต ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ฆ๐˜ง๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ต, ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ๐˜บ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ.

๐——๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—น impressed with his versatility, earning three 2nd place finishes in the 50m, 100m and 200m Breaststroke, along with third place in the 50m Backstroke and 200m Individual Medley.

He placed within the top six in all his events – a fine achievement across a demanding programme.

๐—ญ๐—ผรซ showed admirable consistency in her specialist stroke, securing third place in the 50m, 100m and 200m Breaststroke.

๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ด๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ณ ๐˜ด๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ต ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ.

Junior Swimmers Selected For Karoo Team

Congratulations to our Union High School, Graaff-Reinet and Union Preparatory School, Graaff-Reinet swimmers who, following their excellent performances at the recent Karoo Gala, were selected to represent the Karoo Team at the ๐—œ๐—ก๐—ง๐—˜๐—ฅ ๐——๐—œ๐—ฆ๐—ง๐—ฅ๐—œ๐—–๐—ง๐—ฆ ๐—š๐—”๐—Ÿ๐—” being held at Merrifield College in East London at the beginning of March.

๐—” ๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—น๐—น ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ Grace Kitching, Mercy Dizitiro, Liam Pienaar, Uziah Willemse, Catie Davenport, Gemma Murray, Daniel Davenport (absent), Taylor Jacobs and Lisa McEwan, as well as Ruben Bester, Blake Bezuidenhout, Alivia Palmer, Julia Walker, William Preston and AJ Venter.

Karoo Gala – Results

The annual ๐—ž๐—”๐—ฅ๐—ข๐—ข ๐—š๐—”๐—Ÿ๐—”, held at Hoรซr Volkskool this afternoon, Wednesday, 18 February, once again brought together talented swimmers from across the region.

In addition to the Union participants, teams from Gill, Cradock, Volkskool, Marlow and a group of home-schoolers competed in an exciting event that celebrated both individual excellence and teamwork.

In the primary school category, ๐—จ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ปโ€™๐˜€ ๐—š๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ ๐Ÿญ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐Ÿณ ๐˜€๐˜„๐—ถ๐—บ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ, ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ with an impressive 367 points. Laer Volkskool followed closely with 344 points, while Gill (284) and the Homeschool team (125) completed the standings.

In the high school section, Union High School’s girls finished in a strong second place with 179 points, just behind Hoรซr Volkskool (196). The boysโ€™ finished third with 77 points against tough competition from Hoรซr Volkskool (137) and Marlow (116).

๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ธ ๐—Ÿ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ธ๐—ฒ, Senior Victor Ludorum and ๐—ง๐—ฎ๐˜†๐—น๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ฏ๐˜€, Junior Victrix Ludorum

A massive congratulations to ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ธ ๐—Ÿ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ธ๐—ฒ on being named Senior Victor Ludorum following last week’s ๐—ž๐—”๐—ฅ๐—ข๐—ข ๐—š๐—”๐—Ÿ๐—”. We are equally delighted to celebrate ๐—ง๐—ฎ๐˜†๐—น๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ฏ๐˜€, who was crowned Junior Victrix Ludorum after a phenomenal set of swims.

Taylor not only secured six 1st places in the U14 Primary division, but also broke the 50m Backstroke record in an impressive 34.89 seconds. ๐˜ž๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ข ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ!

A special mention to ๐—ญ๐—ผรซ ๐— ๐—ถ๐—น๐—น๐˜€ for her outstanding four 1st places and to ๐——๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—น ๐——๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜, who claimed six 1st places in the U14 Primary division and broke the 100m Freestyle record in 1:08.49.

Well done as well to ๐—š๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—บ๐—ฎ ๐— ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜†, who earned three 1st places and one 2nd place in the U12 category and to ๐—–๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฒ ๐——๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜, who secured one 1st place and three 2nd places.

Congratulations too to ๐—”๐—น๐˜†๐˜€๐˜€๐—ฎ ๐—ง๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—น๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฝ, who achieved three 2nd places and one 1st place in the U16 Girls division and to ๐—”๐—ป๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ถ๐—พ๐˜‚๐—ฒ ๐—ž๐˜†๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฎ-๐—ž๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐˜‡๐—ฎ for her excellent three 2nd places in the U14 Girls category.

We are ๐—˜๐—ซ๐—ง๐—ฅ๐—˜๐— ๐—˜๐—Ÿ๐—ฌ ๐—ฃ๐—ฅ๐—ข๐—จ๐—— of every swimmer who represented the school with pride and dedication.

๐˜ž๐˜ฆ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฌ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ฆ๐˜น๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜’๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜บ๐˜ด.

Swimming – Karoo District Trials

Congratulations to our Union High Schoolswimmers who represented the school at the ๐——๐—œ๐—ฆ๐—ง๐—ฅ๐—œ๐—–๐—ง ๐—ง๐—ฅ๐—œ๐—”๐—Ÿ๐—ฆ this past Saturday, 14 February.

The team delivered a host of outstanding performances, with numerous podium finishes and impressive personal bests. ๐——๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—น ๐——๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜ led the charge with a 1st place finish in the 200m Breaststroke and a string of 2nd place finishes across multiple events. ๐—ญ๐—ผรซ ๐— ๐—ถ๐—น๐—น๐˜€ and ๐—š๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ ๐—–๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ธ๐—ฒ also shone brightly, each claiming victories and consistently placing among the top competitors. Strong performances from ๐—จ๐˜‡๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—ต ๐—ช๐—ถ๐—น๐—น๐—ฒ๐—บ๐˜€๐—ฒ, ๐—˜๐˜€๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ต๐˜‚ ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฎ and ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ ๐—–๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป further highlighted the depth and strength of our squad.

We now eagerly await the final team announcements, hopeful to see many of our talented athletes earn the opportunity to represent the District at the Provincial Trials in East London on 28 February – ๐˜ข ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ง๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ซ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฃ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜š๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ˆ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜š๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ด ๐˜›๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ, ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜Š๐˜ข๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ ๐˜›๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ญ.

B Age Gala – Results

Several of our Union High School, Graaff-Reinet swimmers represented the school at the recent ๐—• ๐—”๐—š๐—˜ ๐—š๐—”๐—Ÿ๐—”, delivering a series of determined and encouraging performances across the various age groups.

Notable highlights included a superb 1st place finish for ๐—”๐—น๐˜†๐˜€๐˜€๐—ฎ ๐—ง๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—น๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฝ in the Girls u16 50m Freestyle, along with strong podium finishes from ๐—ญ๐—ผรซ ๐— ๐—ถ๐—น๐—น๐˜€ and ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ ๐—–๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป and an excellent 1st place in the Girls 17 & Over 100m Breaststroke for ๐—˜๐˜€๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ต๐˜‚ ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฎ. ๐—–๐—ฎ๐˜†๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—ป also impressed with multiple top 5 finishes in a highly competitive Boys u13 age group.

Beyond the podium, every Union swimmer contributed to a proud showing, with many achieving personal milestones and gaining valuable race experience.

Swimmers such as ๐—–๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฒ ๐——๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜, ๐—จ๐˜‡๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—ต ๐—ช๐—ถ๐—น๐—น๐—ฒ๐—บ๐˜€๐—ฒ, ๐—ž๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—ฆ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜๐˜, ๐—š๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—ž๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด, ๐—–๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜† ๐——๐—ถ๐˜‡๐—ฎ and ๐—š๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ ๐—–๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ธ๐—ฒ are to be commended for their dedication and willingness to give their best.

๐˜ž๐˜ฆ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฌ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ณ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ถ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜จ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ.

Interschools Gala – Results

๐—” ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ณ๐˜‚๐—น๐—น๐˜† ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—œ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—น๐˜€ ๐˜€๐˜„๐—ถ๐—บ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ฎ unfolded between Volkskool and the Union Schools on Monday, 9 February, with races marked by respectful competition and steady enthusiasm from the spectators.

As if scripted to perfection, the heavens opened and rain poured down to beautifully cap off the event, creating a truly memorable and special moment for all swimmers, supporters and staff who shared in the experience.

Union High School’s ๐—š๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ ๐Ÿญ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐Ÿณ ๐˜€๐˜„๐—ถ๐—บ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐—ฎ ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—น๐—น-๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜†, finishing on a total of 525 points to Laer Volkskoolโ€™s 522.

Well done to both schools ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ ๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€ to the day’s Victrix Ludorum, Union’s Taylor Jacobs and the Victor Ludorum, JJ van Schalkwyk (Laer Volkskool).

The high school events provided an exciting afternoon of competition with outstanding performances from both Union and Hoรซr Volkskool.

Volkskool emerged as the winners of this section, finishing with a total of 366 points, while Union followed closely behind on 317 points in a strong showing from our swimmers.

๐—œ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ต๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐˜„๐—ผ ๐˜€๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—น๐˜€, with Volkskoolโ€™s Kate-Lynn Kruger awarded Victrix Ludorum after an exceptional performance, while Unionโ€™s Ben Lemke claimed the Victor Ludorum title with 30 points.

It was especially rewarding to see both schools celebrating success, with each taking home a section win and top swimmer award on the day – ๐—ฎ ๐˜๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ณ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐˜†๐—ฒ๐˜ ๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ฝ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ฎ.

Qualified For SA Regional Swimming Championship

๐—ฆ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—บ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜๐˜€ – both mentally and physically – and the added pressure of meeting qualifying times makes the journey even more challenging.

Progressing beyond district level requires unwavering commitment and countless hours of focused training in the pool.

๐˜๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ Union High School ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ด, ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ, ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฆ๐˜น๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ, ๐˜ฑ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ข๐˜ง๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ฆ๐˜น๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ.

๐—ช๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฑ๐—น๐˜† ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—น๐—น๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜€๐˜„๐—ถ๐—บ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ผ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—พ๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฆ๐—” ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฆ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—บ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—–๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฝ๐˜€: Catie Davenport, Angelique Kyanda-Kaboza and Zoรซ Mills (Level 2), as well as Daniel Davenport (Level 3). Their long training sessions and relentless effort have truly paid off.

We are incredibly proud of each of you – ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฉ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜บ ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ถ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ฆ.

Gariep Open Water Swim

Destiny Swimming Academy-trained Union High School swimmers delivered a strong and encouraging set of performances at the ๐—ž๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ฒ ๐—”๐—พ๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜€ ๐—š๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ ๐—ข๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ช๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฆ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—บ on Saturday, 17 January.

Competing in demanding open-water conditions, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ง๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ฆ ๐˜จ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฑ๐˜ด, gaining valuable race experience and representing their school and academy with pride.

๐—ญ๐—ผรซ ๐— ๐—ถ๐—น๐—น๐˜€ produced a steady and controlled swim in a highly competitive field, while ๐—”๐—ป๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ถ๐—พ๐˜‚๐—ฒ ๐—ž๐˜†๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฎ-๐—ž๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐˜‡๐—ฎ and ๐—–๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฒ ๐——๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜ both impressed in the u13 category, demonstrating resilience and growing maturity in the open-water environment. ๐——๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—น ๐——๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜ added to the teamโ€™s success with a composed and competitive swim, finishing well within his age group and overall field.

๐—” ๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ด๐—ผ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ก๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฒ ๐——๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜, whose race schedule reflected exceptional endurance and commitment. After completing the challenging 3km event earlier in the day, she returned to compete in the shorter open-water race, securing a podium finish in her age category. Her performance was a testament to strong race management and physical stamina.

๐˜–๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜Ž๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ ๐˜–๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ž๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜š๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ด๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด, ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ๐˜บ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜จ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด, ๐˜จ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ง๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ถ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ข ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜จ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฑ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ด.

B-Age Gala – Results

Union High School’s swimmers delivered excellent performances at the second ๐—•-๐—”๐—š๐—˜ ๐—š๐—”๐—Ÿ๐—” at Newton Park this past Saturday:

๐—˜๐˜€๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ต๐˜‚ ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฎ (๐Ÿญ๐Ÿณ)
An exceptional performance, securing 1st place in all six of her events: 50m Fly, 50m Back, 50m Breast, 50m Free, 100m Free and 100m Back.

๐—š๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ ๐—–๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ธ๐—ฒ (๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฐ)
A consistent set of results, including 3rd place in the 100m Back, along with top-10 finishes in all her remaining events.

๐—จ๐˜‡๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—ต ๐—ช๐—ถ๐—น๐—น๐—ฒ๐—บ๐˜€๐—ฒ (๐Ÿญ๐Ÿญ)
A solid showing with significant time improvements and competitive placements across all four of his events: 50m Back, 100m Free, 50m Breast and 50m Free.

๐˜ž๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ!

B Age Gala – Results

Union High School kicked off the school swimming season at the first ๐—• ๐—”๐—ด๐—ฒ ๐—š๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ฎ, held at Newton Park Pool in Gqeberha this past Saturday, 25 October.

๐—ช๐—ฒ๐—น๐—น ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ:

โ€ข ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ ๐—–๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป who claimed 1st place in the 50m Backstroke and finishing in the Top 6 in all her events.

โ€ข ๐—˜๐˜€๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ต๐˜‚ ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฎ impressed with 2nd places in both the 50m Fly and 50m Backstroke, plus a 3rd in the 100m Breaststroke.

โ€ข ๐—ญ๐—ผรซ ๐— ๐—ถ๐—น๐—น๐˜€ earned a 3rd place in the 50m Breaststroke and turned in solid performances across her other races too.

โ€ข ๐—š๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ ๐—–๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ธ๐—ฒ stood out with a 2nd place in the Girls 50m Backstroke and several strong Top 10 finishes.

โ€ข ๐—ž๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—ฆ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—”๐—ป๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ถ๐—พ๐˜‚๐—ฒ ๐—ž๐˜†๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฎ-๐—ž๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐˜‡๐—ฎ showed great promise with strong swims and Top 10 results.

โ€ข ๐—–๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฒ ๐——๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜ made fantastic progress, dropping a huge 7.69 seconds in her 50m Backstroke and 9.81 seconds in her 100m Freestyle – an incredible reward for her hard work and dedication!

โ€ข ๐—ฆ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ด๐—ฒ ๐— ๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ proudly represented Union in her first-ever B Age Gala, gaining valuable experience and showing great determination throughout the day.

๐˜๐˜ต ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ, ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜บ ๐˜ด๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ตโ€™๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ.

A big ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ธ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐— ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐——๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜ for being poolside with the team all day!