She qualified thanks to her winning time of 2:15.68 in the 200 backstroke girls 16 years, almost 2 minutes less than the qualifying standard.

Four other Academy swimmers were also amongst the medals.

12 year old Marlies Ross stunned the crowd with her winning time of 2:45.89 in the 200 breaststroke with which she qualified for the SA Senior Championships. She also won silver in the 200 backstroke on the last day of the meeting. Her personal tally for the championships was 4 silver and 2 gold medals.

TuksSport High School matriculant Nico Meyer, officially the fastest man at the meeting after his win in the 50 freestyle, finished the last day with a bronze medal in the 100 butterfly.

The other three Academy swimmers who excelled, were Monique Viljoen in the 100 and 200 breaststroke girls 15 years, John Van Duyn in the 50 breaststroke boys 16 years and Kenian Talisa Lenoe in the girls 15 years age group.

Monique (2) and John (1) both won medals, but Talisa will be remembered for making it to three finals with personal best times and bettering the Kenian senior record with her performance in the 100 backstroke girls 15 years.

Other Tuks swimmers who need mention after the last days’ events are:

• MJ Koekemoer (gold in the 50 breaststroke and silver in the 100 breaststroke boys 13 years);

• Fabienne Marsay (bronze in the 100 backstroke girls 16 years);

• Amy Peens (gold in the 50 backstroke and bronze in the 200 backstroke girls 16 years).

TuksSwinning finished fourth overall, a marked improvement on their seventh spot in 2009.