Boksburg boasts 14-year-old aquatic star

Among many of its sporting talents, Boksburg also boasts a junior aquatic star who seems positioned to take Boksburg swimming to new heights. His name is Kian Keylock.

Keylock most recently starred in a three-legged Grand Prix Swim Series in Nelspruit where he tested himself against some of the country’s top amateur swimmers.

The competition, which was open, saw Keylock (14) manage to squeeze a medal against older competitors between his overall five disciplines.

The CBC Boksburg learner also attended the pre-tournament training camp between January 6 and 9 before the official opening leg of the series, which followed from January 10 to 11.

Keylock’s most successful race came in the form of the 100m breaststroke, where he claimed a bronze medal in a time of 1:07:04 behind 18-year-old Michael Deans, who won the race in 1:04:53, and 21-year-old Bailey Musgrave, who settled for the runners-up position after clocking 1:05:01.

Keylock finished ahead of Andrew Brown, Jaiden Staines and Ahllan Bique, just to list a few, who are 21, 16 and 20 years of age respectively.

Swimmers from all over the country attended the Grand Prix in the hope to qualify for this year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo.

With Keylock slightly too young to make it to the highest level this time around, he hopes to make it for the 2024 games where he’ll have a more realistic chance of making the cut.

In Mpumalanga, he also participated in the 200m and 400m individual medley, 100m butterfly and 200m breaststroke events, where he finished sixth, fifth, 11th and fourth respectively.

The second leg of the series, which will be organised in Stellenbosch at the end of the month, Keylock will unfortunately miss because he missed the closing date for entries.

He will, however, feature in the last leg which is scheduled to take place at his hunting ground, Durban, between February 21 and 23.

The beginning of the Grand Prix Series was preceded by the KZN Premier Provincial gala, which took place in Durban late last month.

Swimming in his natural habitat and 14-15 age group category, Keylock set a new SA record in the 100m breaststroke en route to his 12 medals, split five gold, five silver and two bronze and to finishing as the top points scorer in his category.

The old record (1:06:05), which was set in 2017 by Luan Grobelaar who now swims for New Zealand, was improved to 1:05:89 by the CBC Boksburg star.

His other four gold medals came in the 200m backstroke, 200m breaststroke and the 100m and 200m butterfly events.

The silvers were achieved in the 200m and 400m individual medleys, 50m butterfly, 50m breaststroke and the 100m backstroke.

The bronze medals arrived in the shorter 50m freestyle and backstroke races.

During Keylock’s busy December schedule, he also featured at the SA Schools meeting earlier in December in Pretoria and again set a new meet record in the 200m breaststroke. His other three golds were won in the 100m and 200m breaststroke races and the 200m individual medley in his men’s 14 class.

There were three more gold medals and one silver won in the relays for the Boksburg Aquatic Saints swimmer.

The festive season dominance and excellence got underway with the Eastern Gauteng Aquatics (EGA) Championship, where Keylock set four meet records and was awarded the prestigious Victor Ludorum for boys 14-15.

The records were set in the 400m and 1 500m freestyle as well as the 200m and 400m individual medley en route to his total 12 gold and one silver medals in the individual events.

He won an additional four golds, two silvers and two bronze medals during the relay races.

His individual medals were won in the 200m, 400m and 1 500m freestyle; 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke; 200m and 400m individual medley; 200m backstroke and in the 50m, 100m and 200m butterfly. His silver came in the 50m backstroke.

The championships also took place in early December just before the SA Schools meet at the Delville swimming pool in Germiston.

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