Tuks swimmers continued to make a big splash over the weekend during the USSA Swimming Championships in Gqeberha, winning overall as well as the men's and women's team competitions. It is the sixth year that TuksSwimming has been victorious. Four of the seven swimmers, namely Cameron Casali, Arno Kruger, Owethu Mahan, and Liam Vehbi, were from Tuks and selected for the USSA Best Team.

Liam Vehbi and Amica de Jager were the two Tuks swimmers who scored the highest World Aquatics points in an individual event. De Jager was indeed on song. She was the female swimmer who scored the most points during the gala.

De Jager can be excused if she feels chuffed with her performance in the pool. Distance swimming is her thing. Earlier this year, during the African Beach Games in Tunisia, she won gold in the 5km open water swim. She also represented South Africa at the World Swimming Championships in Japan.

What gets her going is testing her physical skills against the challenges of swimming in oceans. Trying to fine-tune the art of getting the best of rip currents and choppy swells

"The last time I competed in a swimming gala was about a year ago. It was also the USSA Swimming Championships," said the MSc Computer Science student.

"I competed in seven individual events. I won all six freestyle events and finished second in the 200-metre breaststroke."

It seems impossible that a distance swimmer can win a 50-metre event. In athletics, it would boil down to a marathon athlete winning the 100-metre sprint.

De Jager laughs when she is asked about her sprinting abilities.

"I guess some might think it is strange for me to win races over such short distances as 50 and 100 metres. But what many might not know is that sprinting is part and parcel of long-distance swimming. Over the last 100 metres, it is all about who is the fastest."

The Tuks student-athlete is unsure in which event she notched up the most World Aquatics points.

"I think it could have been the 400-metre freestyle."

Despite her sprinting prowess, De Jager has no plans to change from open-water swimming to pool galas.

"Some of Tuks's long-distance coaches might have gotten worried because I was not doing the typical heavy mileage in the buildup to the USSA Champs. Although I enjoy competing in the pool, I know where my strengths as a swimmer are. It is long-distance swimming. I aim to qualify for next year's Paris Olympic Games. To do so will take many long and hard hours of training."