Posted on March 20, 2024
Tuks swimmers collected multiple medals at the 13th African Games in Ghana.
Caitlin de Lange won seven medals - four individual (2 gold and 2 silver) and three gold in the relays. Another TuksSwimming club member, Catherine van Rensburg won six medals - five individual (4 gold and 1 bronze) and one gold in the relays.
The 19-year-old Van Rensburg admits she expected to stand on the podium so often.
"We did not taper down at all for the Games. So, I expected to be sluggish in the water. To my surprise, I was not. It did not matter that I did not get to improve on any of my personal best times. The closest I came to doing so was in the 400m-freestyle."
She previously considered herself to be an open-water swimmer. All changed after the 2022 World Aquatics Championships despite finishing in the top 20 of the women's 5 km competition.
"It was a reality check for me. It made me realise how much harder I needed to work to be competitive internationally. It is one of the reasons why I have decided to race more in the pool," said Van Rensburg, who in 2022 won the 5km-race during the SA Open-water Champs in Jeffreys Bay.
Below are Tuks swimmers who medalled in the individual events at the 13th African Games
Men
Andrew Ross: Silver (200m individual medley) and bronze (200m freestyle) and(200m breaststroke); Cameron Casali: Bronze (400m freestyle); Clayton Jimmie: Gold (100m freestyle) and silver (50m freestyle); Helgard Muller: Bronze (200m backstroke); Liam Vehbi: Bronze (200m butterfly) and (400m individual medley).
Women
Caitlin de Lange: Gold (100m freestyle) and (50m backstroke). Silver: (50m butterfly) and (50m freestyle); Catherine van Rensburg: Gold: (1500m freestyle), (400m freestyle), (400m individual medley), (800m freestyle). Bronze: (200m freestyle). Georgia Els: Gold (200m individual medley). Silver: (100m breaststroke). Bronze: (200m breaststroke); Hannah Mouton: Silver (200m freestyle). Bronze: (400m freestyle); Kate Meyer: Silver: (200m breaststroke) and (50m breaststroke), Bronze: (400m individual medley); Leigh McMorran: Silver (200m butterfly); Tayla Jonker: Silver: (200m backstroke), (50m backstroke) and (100m backstroke)
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