Local swimming club shines at SA Short Course

Boksburg Aquatic Saints Swimming and Lifesaving Club was well represented during the recently held South African Short Course gala in Pietermaritzburg from October 24 to 27.

In addition to Saints star Kian Keylock winning two medals and setting a whopping seven personal best (PB) times, the local club was also represented by the trio of Jaiden Staines, Divan Pretorius and Aiden Bornman who all showed hunger for competition with a few personal best swims of their own.

Jaiden Staines

Staines set new PB times in the 200m individual medley, 100m breaststroke, 200m backstroke and the 200m breaststroke.

“I am very pleased with how things turned out and I am stoked with my times I achieved at this meet,” said Staines, who was featuring in his third Short Course gala.

“My SA Short Course experience was rather different this year just because of all the Covid-19 rules we had to abide by, but other than that my experience was really good and was filled with fast races.”

Times before and after gala:

Backstroke

200m – 2:13 (2:10)

Breaststroke

100m – 1:04 (1:03)
200m – 2:20 (2:16)

Individual medley

200m – 2:15 (2:09)

Divan Pretorius

Pretorius, a 200m freestyle specialist, shined in the discipline and even shaved off a little over two seconds in the longer 400m freestyle race.

“I am very happy about how things turned out, I achieved 80 per cent of my goals that were set before the gala,” he explained.

“The SA Short Course experience was really good and fun, most of all, it taught me some lessons and showed me some of my weaknesses that I can work on. All in all, it was a great gala and I really enjoyed it. I’m happy with my results.”

Times before and after gala:

Freestyle

200m – 1:54 (1:51)
400m – 4:04 (4:02)

Aidan Bornman

Bornman singled out the 200m freestyle race, where he made the B finals (top 9 to 16).

“I was extremely happy with this swim. I made B finals and placed 15th overall,” he said.

“Overall, I’m very pleased with my results considering it was my first time attending SA Short Course.”

Times before and after gala:

Backstroke

50m – 29 (28.29)

Butterfly

50m – 27.70 (27.55)

Freestyle

50m – 24.86 (24.28)
100m – 53.40 (52.70)
200m – 2:01.06 (1:54.56)
400m – 4:21.01 (4:11.75)

Also Read: Kian produces a stroke of class at SA Short Course

Also Read: Boksburg’s Keylock included in SA youth swimming squad