Well done and congratulations to Duné Coetzee on your wonderful swims at the Junior African Championships recently. You and the entire Junior Team of swimmers have made SA proud and proved yourselves as brilliant champions. Dune this was your first time proudly wearing our Green and Gold – an honour indeed! All the best blessings on the journey ahead.
Interview: Duné Coetzee
Junior African Championships Report Back |
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| Name & Surname | Duné Coetzee |
| Name of Meet | Junior African Championships |
| Date of Meet | 17 – 20 October 2015 |
| City and Country | Cairo, Egypt |
| Names of various Events participated in? | 100 Fly
50 Fly 100 Free 200 Free 4 x 100 Free relay 4 x 100 Medley relay 4 x 100 Medley mixed relay 4 x 100 Free relay |
| Medals/Awards received for which events? | 100 Fly – Gold (New NTS record for my province)
50 Fly – Silver 100 Free – Silver 200 Free – Silver 4 x 100 Free relay – Gold (New championship record) 4 x 100 Medley relay – Gold (New championship record) 4 x 100 Mixed Medley relay – Gold 4 x 100 Mixed Free relay – Silver |
| Highlights of the event? | Winning the 400 meter Free and 400 meter Medley relays in new Junior Africa Championship records with my team. It was a true honor to compete with Carissa van Rooyen, Hanim Abrahams and Rebecca Meder in these two events. I feel like I have made new friends whom I look forward to see again at Level 3 and Nationals next year! This includes the rest of the team members who traveled to Cairo. Suddenly we all know each other whereas previously we only knew off each other. |
| Lessons learned from the event? | This was my first international event and I learned a lot as everything was new. Some of the highlights include:
How to compete without the advice from my coach Linda but instead the SA coaches who doesn’t know me so well. I have to figure out how to internalize their observations and advice so that it assists me to perform optimally. You need to control your diet. You get all these nice things in the hotel which you don’t normally eat. I fell into the trap of eating too much food that doesn’t necessarily fit my diet. Although I knew I should look out for this the new experience was overwhelming and I didn’t attend to it as strict as I should have. From a competing perspective I learned that I have a lot of work to do on some of the more technical aspects of racing. At this level you really need to be on top of your game in every aspect to take home a gold medal. This is something my coach and I have already actively started working on. I also learned how to function in a team – which sadly is something we don’t often get to do and which was a very rewarding aspect of the entire trip. |
| General observations and vibe of the meet? | The meet was well organized and it was a very positive experience. It is something very special when you are fortunate enough to medal. If you are really lucky and manage to be on the winner’s podium you get to hear your country’s anthem play, which adds to the incredible feeling of achievement. |
| What/Who motivated you throughout the champs? | As mentioned my coach, Linda de Jager, was not at the meet and it was something to get used to not having her there to motivate me and give me advice. Therefore I drew a lot of motivation from all the SA team coaches at the meet.
Things also didn’t go all my way and I prayed a lot for help and guidance which I received plenty of. |
| Anything Else you want to mention | I am very blessed to have been selected to represent South Africa at this event. I believe that I have competed to the best of my ability and will work even harder to hopefully be selected in future again to represent South Africa. There is not much in my life that has felt better than this! |
Interview: Duné Coetzee
NB – All images were supplied by the athlete to Heslop Sports. If there are any images that are not credited correctly, please email info@heslopsports.co.za with the details and we will gladly do so immediately.
