A Dainfern College learner has been invited to take part in the Paralympic swimming trials set to take place in Gqeberha from 7 to 12 April.
Eighteen-year-old Broadacres resident Katelyn Marais received the news on 9 March. She represented the province from 2017 to 2019 in the South African Disability Championships and South African Nationals and represented the country in the Cerebral Palsy World Games in 2018.
Marais was diagnosed at three years old with a neurological disability, hemiplegia, a form of cerebral palsy. It affects the left side of her body and the right side of her brain, leaving her left arm and leg shorter than her right.
She said she started swimming when she was young which was suggested by her neurologist after trying out horse riding. Her main stroke is freestyle but she also does butterfly and backstroke.
“My mom also wanted us to know how to swim since she was a swimmer. When I first started, I ended up in stroke correction for three years. At the time we didn’t think it was because of my disability. But we now realise it was because of it that I was there for so long,” she said as her disability did heavily affect her swimming.
She described feeling incredibly excited after getting the email with the invitation. “It was really mind-blowing to receive the email. I had been incredibly nervous to receive and to not receive the email. When it was around 11.30am, I thought I wasn’t getting an email, but I later did and I sent it to my teachers,” she smiled.
Katelyn is in Grade 12 and head of environmental studies and she works hard to balance her academics and fitness for swimming. She said keeping fit during lockdown was a challenge.
Once she completes high school, the 18-year-old wants to study at the University of Pretoria.
She said a goal in her swimming career was to take part in the Paralympics and represent her country.
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