8 March 2009
South Africa has produced many top swimmers in the recent past, and now the
country has identified the next generation of swimmers that will be winners at
the coming Olympic Games.
At the recently held National Schools Aquatics Championship held at
Dellville in Germiston, several promising swimmers were in action and produced
excellent results in the pool.
Gauteng province topped the aquatic championship with the overall of 693
points, followed by KwaZulu-Natal on 625 and Free State third on 553. Limpopo
province 548; Western Cape 547,50; Eastern cape 497,50; Mpumalanga 293; North
West 214; Northern Cape 136. The Final Synchro Points Standing are as follows
Western Cape 126, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal shared the second spot with 92
points each and the third spot Gauteng with 23.
Schools from all nine provinces participated in the championship.
Sport and Recreation South Africa (SRSA), in its role of providing South
African youth with opportunities to participate in sport, hosted the
championships through intergovernmental relations and partnerships with
departments such as Education.
During the opening ceremony Deputy Minister of Sport and Recreation South
Africa, Mr Gert Oosthuizen congratulated all young, aspiring swimming champions
and wished those who have not done well all the best for the future.
He told the participants that government recognises the importance that
swimming plays in the lives of people of all ages and abilities, and the
contribution it can make to their health. It also recognises that both adults
and children are currently failing to meet the recommended levels of physical
activity, and that action is required by all of us to promote greater
participation, including through swimming, across all groups. Swimming is
uniquely beneficial across the whole of society as it is a skill that can save
lives. It is also one of the countryâs most fun sporting activities and
therefore merits appropriate investment.
âSRSA will continue to work with Swimming South Africa to seek ways to make
swimming accessible to all children even in the most rural areas of South
Africa. While I say that swimming deserves appropriate investment, we
simultaneously have to ensure that all investment is focused, meets the needs
of local communities and our elite swimmers, and is sustainable in the long
term government also demands a return on its investment! That said, SRSA is
playing its part in funding swimming projects, we are supporting the federation
through funding elite swimmers, giving support to its learn to swim programme
and funding the annual primary and secondary schools aquatics championshipsâ
said Oosthuizen.
The championship was attended by the President of Swimming South Africa, Mr
Jace Naidoo, and Mr Ivor Hoff, Chief Director in the Gauteng Department of
Sport, Arts and Culture.
Enquiries:
Mishack Magakwe
Cell: 072 703 9785
Issued by: Sport and Recreation South Africa
8 March 2009
