News
Posted 30 September 2010 at 12h19pm
National Downs Syndrome Swimming Team to jet off to 5th World Champs in Taiwan
On the 29th September, the 12 members of the National Downs Syndrome Swimming team will jet off from OR Tambo International Airport for the 5th World Downs Swimming Championships in Taipei, Taiwan.
The Championships, which take place from the 1st - 8th October held biennially and are unique in that only people with Down syndrome compete.
They compete in two categories: Trisomy 21 and Mosaic Down syndrome.
Jennifer Higgins (KZN) as the top female swimmer in South Africa will be defending her 6 World Short Course Records.
Pieter Bell, Western Cape holds the 25m Butterfly World Record and Sean O'Neil, Gauteng, 25m Freestyle World Records.
Hannes-Walt de Klerk (Mosaic Down syndrome) from North West Province will be in top form, defending his 5 Mosaic World Records.
Both the male and female relay teams are serious medal contenders and the Male A relay team will be defending their 3 World Records.
The championships has grown over the years from the first competition held in Reading, England in 2002 where 6 countries participated with 54 swimmers, to 198 swimmers and 23 participating countries in Albufeira, Portugal in 2008.
It is expected that more swimmers will be competing in Taiwan this year.
All the swimmers in the National Down's Team are registered with Swimming South Africa, train with "able bodied" swimming clubs and also compete in mainstream swimming competitions.
This affords them the opportunities for regular training, integration and participation. These swimmers need the same commitment as all sports people to reach national representative level, from training to tenacity.
But to get there they have to have that extra measure of determination. Everyone takes their swimming very seriously and training diligently to take up the challenge in Taipei.
Swimming for persons with Down syndrome has grown over the past 8 years. Standards have been raised and all this development has resulted in a new format in the Championships.
In principal it incorporates 2 competitions within the Championships, namely an International Championships during the heats with the top eight swimmers going through to the evening's finals or World Championships.
SASA-II welcomed this format as it allows for participation from a broad base of swimmers in the International leg of the Championships, while the World Championship event caters for the top elite swimmers.
| Team South Africa - Men |
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| Pieter Bell |
Western Province |
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| Hannes de Klerk |
North West |
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| Hylton Heggie |
Kwa-Zulu Natal |
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| Johan Hugo |
Western Province |
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| Peter Lundy |
Kwa-Zulu Natal |
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| Jacques Nel |
Freestate |
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| Sean O'Neill |
Gauteng |
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| Tyrone Rademeyer |
Gauteng |
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| Team South Africa - Women |
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| Donnee Dixon |
Western Province |
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| Jennifer Higgins |
Kwa-Zulu Natal |
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| Betty-Lou Miller |
Western Province |
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| Mariza Holdt |
Western Province |
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| Team South Africa - Management |
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| General Manager |
Albert Warnick |
Western Province |
| Team Manager |
Barbara Higgins |
Kwa-Zulu Natal |
| Assistent Team manager |
Avril Farao |
Western Province |
| Head Coach |
Johno Feguson |
Kwa-Zulu Natal |
| Asst Coach |
Julia Legodi |
Gauteng |
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