Morningside man to compete at Olympic Games
Garteh May, who is a Durban Preparatory High School old boy, started playing water polo 14 years ago when he was a Grade 5 learner.
MORNINGSIDE resident and Grade 6 teacher at Durban Preparatory High School, Gareth May (24) will jet off to Tokyo with the South African Olympic water polo team, a life-long dream come true, for the athlete.
“I think it’s going to be an unbelievable experience. Obviously it will be a bit different with all the Covid-19 regulations. To compete and rub shoulders with the top athletes in the world is going to be quite something. That’s what I am extremely excited for. We have a tough pool, we are playing Italy first, who are the world champions from 2019, so that is going to be quite a tough game. We are going to have to step up our game. We have been training hard,” said May.
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“I started watching the Olympics in 2008, watching the Beijing Olympics. It’s always been a dream of mine to attend the Olympics, I never thought it would be possible. Last year, we were notified that Team South Africa is going to the Olympics for water polo, I don’t think we’ve gone in the last 60 years. That dream became a reality last year. Lots of hard work nd dedication went into this,” he added.
May, who is a DPHS old boy, stared playing water polo 14 years ago when he was a Grade 5 learner.
“I want to thank my coaches for everything they have given me. I am thankful for the opportunity to represent South Africa at the highest level. Hopefully we can do the country proud,” he said.
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Juggling his work as a teacher, May trains six days a week for two hours per day. In 2017, May was selected to go to the World Student Games. “This is the second biggest event in the world. That was amazing as well. There were 8000 athletes staying in a village. My team came 14th if I am not mistaken,” he said.
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