With Covid-19 regulations still in effect, swimming galas have seen a shift in how they are held and a reduction in the number of attendants.
Only 50 people, including officials and swimmers, are permitted in the pool facility, meaning only small groups of swimmers can compete at a time.
St Benedict’s College recently hosted the Eastern Gauteng swimming event and provided live streaming for coaches and parents to watch.
The event was swum over the Heritage Day long weekend and saw swimmers who qualified for level three or above compete.
Nationwide, times were aggregated, and the top swimmers were invited to compete in Pietermaritzburg at the end of October.
Seven ESP swimmers from Edenvale and Kempton Park qualified for the Pietermaritzburg event.
The swimmers were Josh Gillespie, Bernelee Doster, and Kyle Mckenzie (national qualifiers) Tambai Dutiro and Annebel Van Wyk (junior national qualifiers) Mikayla Pon and Francois Allers (level three qualifiers).
Kempton Park’s Doster swam three top 10 ranked times in the 50m backstroke, a 200m backstroke and 400m individual medley.
Gillespie, a St Benedict’s learner, broke the one-minute barrier in the 100m backstroke event.
ESP swimmers swam many of their best times.
Edenvale resident and former Edenvale High School learner Mckenzie is focused on the 200m and 400m individual medleys, while Doster is focused primarily on the backstroke events.