By GARY LEMKE in Swakopmund
Shortly after Nkosi sikelel’ Afrika was played for the 21st and final time in The Dome’s indoor aquatic arena, the large scoreboard that had kept everyone updated throughout the four days of the swimming competition at these Region 5 Games, displayed a graphic.
It was that of the final medals table and it showed Team SA had won 21 golds, 21 silvers and seven bronze medals for a total of 49, which was 19 more than Namibia, who were a credit to the competition as the host nation.
It was just that Team SA had too much firepower. Indiana de Villiers ended as the most medalled swimmer with 10, while Georgia Els will return with nine and Jessica Carmody and Josh Esterhuyzen all collected seven. Then, Matthew Pretorius and Christian Esterhuyzen (no relation to Josh) banked seven and Morgan Cope six.
Another 11 medals came in the final session with seven golds, with perps the race of the night coming in the boys 400m freestyle. Lance Cromhout had built up a good lead over Namibian Oliver Durand – remember the name – before Durand started to cut into the advantage inside the last 100m.
However, the wall came just at the right time for the Pretoria matriculant, touching in 3min 55.81sec, just 0.04 seconds ahead of a charging Durand.
“It was my tactic to go from the start because I knew that Oliver would come on strongly. And he did, but I think that it came down to who wanted it more. I can safely say that I came to Namibia wanting to win gold and I was desperate to hold off any challengers.”
Another Pretoria swimmer, who goes through his paces under the expert eye of Rocco Meiring, is Christian Esterhuyzen. He ticked off two more medals to take his tally to seven, when winning the 50m backstroke in 25.54 before following Matthew Pretorius home in the 100m butterfly.
Esterhuyzen however was over the moon with his gala. “I recently had tonsillitis and hadn’t been feeling great at all, So, I didn’t know what to expect but this has been beyond my expectations. The results have given me a lot of motivation going forward and now I want to go on to achieve more.”
Another who was over the moon with her return was Jessica Carmody who completed the 50m/100m freestyle double when taking the splash and dash sprint in 26.18. That confirmed that she was the fastest female swimmer at the gala and it’s something she can carry forward with her.
“I came her to do my best and I’m so happy that I was able to win eight medals. I was using this as a training gala and if I had to rate the performance that I feel best about it’s the 50m freestyle. Actually, I’d say that overall it was close to a 10 out of 10 for me.”
While De Villiers secured the most medals, it was Carmody and Pretorius who won the most golds (six each). Ultimately though the coaches should be pleased with the return of their squad and they should also take credit for the work that have put into the teenagers throughout the time that they were in camp.
The Team SA swimmers return to South Africa on Wednesday and officials had better be warned that this group has plenty to declare when they exit through customs.
Photo: ROGER SEDRES
