The Gauteng Schools became the undisputed winners of the 2017 National SA Schools Swimming Championships
Polokwane, Thursday, 13th April 2017 – The Gauteng Province Schools were the undisputed winners of the 2017 National SA Schools Swimming Championships with a total of 154 medals (74 gold, 48 silver and 32 bronze), as the competition successfully concluded today at the Polokwane Swimming Pool in Limpopo.
The event, which was organized by Sport and Recreation South Africa, in partnership with the Department of Basic Education, Swimming South Africa and National Schools Aquatics, has seen four days of fast times and great potential from both schools and swimming clubs.
The first race of the afternoon was the 400m freestyle, which saw the men’s gold medals going to KZN’s Leshen Pillay (13) in 4:58.43 and Gauteng’s Janco Rademeyer (17) in 4:26.62, while the winning ladies were Free State’s Chloe le Roux (13) in 4:49.75 and Mpumalanga’s Jordyn Minifie (16) in 4:44.54.
Pillay also scooped the bronze medal in the 100m butterfly in 1:11.69.
North West’s Pieter Coetze (13) was victorious on two occasions, clocking the fastest times in both the 50m backstroke and 100m butterfly in 31.17 and 1:05.40, while the remaining age group gold medals went to Gauteng’s William Roos (12), Mpumalanga’s Giano dos Santos (15) and Limpopo’s Heinrich Strydom (17) in 33.57, 29.91 and 28.87, respectively.
The ladies’ hotly contested 50m backstroke saw some amazing swims from KZN’s Ashley Ebing (12) and Cara Message (13), Eastern Cape’s Alexia Velde (14) and Chloe Velde (16), who won their age group races in 34.88, 33.82, 32.25 and 31.71.
There were fast times in the 100m butterfly with Gauteng’s Kian Keylock (12), Western Cape’s Eugene van der Merwe (15) and Limpopo’s Ivan Beukes (17) bagging the gold in their respective age categories in 1:11.03, 1:01.46 and 58.58, while on the ladies’ side, the first places went to KZN’s Emma Christianson (12) in 1:11.26, Free State’s Luchelle Oosthuizen (13) in 1:12.15, North West’s Idele du Toit (15) in 1:09.32 and Western Cape’s Kristen Straszacker (17) in 1:06.97.
Ending the event with three gold medals was Gauteng’s Thulane Mabuza (S10), adding the multi-disability 100m backstroke to his tally in 1:19.22, while Mpumalanga’s Naysi Strauss (S14) won her respective race in 2:00.75.
In the 50m multi-disability freestyle, the gold was claimed by Western Cape’s Adin Pieters (S15) in 30.50, with the ladies’ first places going to Mpumalanga’s Gene Prinsloo (S14) in 51.46 and Gauteng’s Bongekile Sabeka (S10) in 37.99.
Final Medal Table:
| Position | Province | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Gauteng Schools | 74 | 48 | 32 | 154 |
| 2. | KZN Aquatics | 38 | 36 | 35 | 109 |
| 3. | Mpumalanga | 12 | 14 | 16 | 42 |
| 4. | Free State Schools | 12 | 14 | 13 | 39 |
| 5. | Eastern Cape Aquatics | 9 | 8 | 9 | 26 |
| 6. | Limpopo Schools | 7 | 13 | 14 | 34 |
| 7. | Western Cape Schools Association | 6 | 13 | 21 | 40 |
| 8. | North West Swimming | 5 | 4 | 3 | 12 |
