Swimming

Swimming Awards

MIC:

• Mrs J Greensill

Captain:

• Dale van der Merwe

Team Award:

• Christopher Chapman • Connor Erwee

Full Colours:

• Manqoba Bungane • Ryan Fermoyle • Josh Jacobs • Gehan Neuhoff • Luca Nicholas • Matthew Stephenson • Matthew Sweeney • Conor Tonetti • Dale van der Merwe

Resilience, agility, and optimism were the key themes of the 2021 swimming season: • We resiliently continued our work to develop a robust swimming system with a strong support team that was ready and able to race at only a few days’ notice • We worked agile, shifting the swimming system online over a weekend, finding new ways to compete, keeping the boys engaged and motivated • We were optimistic, despite the pessimism induced by Covid over the past year and half, that we would eventually return to some semblance of normality, and we would be ready once given the opportunity to race

As 2020 ended off on a hopeful note, we had begun a move back to a normal swimming programme and galas were set to resume in 2021. The country, however, was devastated by the second wave of Covid-19, forcing school sport to be suspended as we moved back to an online environment. Although this was not the ideal situation, it provided us with time and a chance to step back to take a high-level view of our swimming programme and develop a plan that not only supported an online swimming programme, but also a move back onto pool deck.

This included the introduction of squad-based training, grouped according to ability, with team selection used as a proxy for this. Each squad had a coach appointed, drastically reducing the swimmer-to-coach ratio to drive quality instructing and coaching, with sessions designed to suitably challenge the swimmers. We decided to pool our resources by introducing a swimming Google Classroom (code: kurtacr) uploading weekly land and swimming workouts, team selections and other information. We were also able to improve our swimming-wide communication as we introduced Whatsapp groups to support the Google Classroom, so swimmers always remained up to date.

Once we were able to return to pool deck for in-person training, we found the transition smooth as the squad-based training immediately yielded improved results, while coaches were also adequately equipped with the resources needed to run the sessions. On this note, I would like to thank Hylton Collinson (B Team coach) and Cameron MacNair (C Team coach) – highly skilled coaches with significant swimming expertise, who were invaluable additions to our team.

Although a return to in-person training was possible, we were still unable to race. We all needed that excitement only competitive racing can bring so we decided to launch the St David’s Championship and Virtual Invitational gala. The gala included an extended programme of events, hosted over two Wednesdays, and served a dual-purpose: firstly, enabling our swimmers to race for championship points, trophies and their houses and secondly, allowing us to reconnect with schools we had not raced in over a year. The gala was even attended by Westville, as the virtual setting meant that any school across South Africa could compete. Congratulations to St Benedict’s for winning the inaugural virtual meet, and to The Bishops for being the highest-scoring house at the event.

We were fortunate enough to be given the go-ahead to return to racing during the latter part of Term 3 and, although this was a massive test for us fielding three full teams after the long absence, our system stood firm and we were able to run with team selection in only three days, without the need for a scheduled trials. We performed well at each of the three galas, with our A team winning on two occasions, while our B and C teams placed first and second at two of the galas in which they participated. St Benedict’s is in fine form, and we still have a bit of work to close the gap, but I am confident in the system we are building, and, in time, it will yield results.

Another highlight of our 2021 swimming season was us being able to host the second edition of the Marcellin Champagnat Junior Charity Gala, in which boys and girls in Grades 8 and 9 participate in an unusual series of events, looking to win a beautiful floating trophy. Twentyeight records were broken at the second instalment of this gala, with St Benedict’s and Menlo Park winning the boys and girls sections respectively. Each swimmer was asked to bring a can of food as an “entrance fee” and we managed to raise more than 60 cans, which will be donated to a local feeding scheme. We look so forward to the continued growth of this gala as it looks set to become a regular event on the swimming calendar.

Despite the hardships 2021 has brought with it, I look back on our swimming season with pride, acknowledging it as a year of laying foundations, upon which the St David’s swimming

programme is set to grow from strength to strength. None of our successes this year would be possible without an incredible team of coaches, managers, support staff and volunteers, all passionately working to build a swimming programme we can be proud of. A special thank you to Dale van der Merwe for his support as Captain, Mr Collinson, Mr MacNair, Ms Vernell, Ms Rossouw and Ms Vazzana for all your work with the teams, Mr Gillardi and Ms Mohabir for your patience and calm in learning and working with the Meet Manager system, to Mr Whyte for his immense support of the programme and Fourviere facility. Most importantly, to Mrs Greensill, the mother of swimming at St David’s, for her continued commitment and passion to the programme and the boys, tirelessly working to ensure everyone (including me) is looked after and cared for.

As we sign off for the 2021 swimming season, we acknowledge our successes but look ahead to an exciting 2022, which will see the reignition of our gala programme, including the events we look forward to most: Interhigh, Affies Invitational, Westville and the Top 10. We take pride in the gains we have made and acknowledge that we must continue our journey of building an exceptional St David’s swimming team.

Mr J Harris

Whole School Swimming Professional

Swimming A Team

Back row: Andrew Pournara, Jack Brady, Anton Arwidi, Cullen Greyling, Tristan Grimett, Jensen Welton, Cade Topping, Joshua Polley, Mark Hudson, Chris Taylor, Robert Jervis, Adam Nicholas, Simon Henson, Michael Jervis 2nd row: Dylan Botha, Erik Arwidi, Brendan Hope, Ruttger Schliesser, Cheydon Goodwill, Austin Mutooni, Samuel Kobus, Ryan Zasas, Cullen Holland, Weston Davis, Andrew Kleinhans Front row: Gehan Neuhoff, Ryan Fermoyle, Luca Nicholas, Matthew Stephenson, Mrs J Greensill, Mr J Harris, Mr F Gilardi, Dale van der Merwe, Manqoba Bungane, Josh Jacobs, Matthew Sweeney

Swimming B and C Team

Back row: Reagan Fisher, Matthew Rathbone, Aryan Bhatt, Massimo Araujo, Christopher Chapman, Aidan Stuart 4th row: Andrew Kruger, Christos Stefanakis, Connor Gaizley, Joshua Tew, James Wilmot, Rohan Bhatt, Neo Phihlela, Justin Krige, Daniel Dyer, Kurt Leenstra, Ethan Donaldson 3rd row: Christopher Correia, Ross Kempster, Jack Downie, Alexander De Ruiter, David Lamb, Connor Erwee, Jack Latilla-Campbell, Adrian Botha, Alessio Angelucci, Luke Veitch, Matthew Crawford 2nd row: Joshua Kleinhans, Nicolai Paraian, Jack Waddell, Anthony Wilson, Brennan Bernariusz, Connor Mc Williams, Soham Bandyopadhyay, Ross Stuart, Nicolas Jansen van Rensburg, Daniel Oosthuizen, Kaden Pillay Front row: Andreas Paschalides, Cruz King, Hayden Thomas, Raditshego Ditshego, Mrs J Greensill, Mr J Harris, Mr F Gilardi, Khotso Mabona, Seth McLoughlin, David Kalil, Bruno Moreira