Westville swimmer breaks world record

WESTVILLE swimmer Marc Allan won four medals at the World Aquatics Master Championships. The championships, which were held in Japan recently, had over 9 000 swimmers from 100 countries, and Allan won two silver and two gold medals, breaking a record for the 50m Butterfly in the 45–49 age group.

Allan is an avid swimmer who started at the age of five with several achievements, including making provincial swimming teams. “I started swimming when I was very young, and swam from five years to 13 years, then started playing water polo at high school and made KZN schools water polo, then KZN men and SA U20 water polo teams. In February 2017, at the age 40, a friend invited me to a KZN Masters swimming gala and that’s when my Masters swimming journey began.

Also read: SPAR Women’s Challenge Tshwane returns to Supersport

“I currently hold many South Africa Masters swimming records in the 40–44 age group and the 45–49 age group. My main strokes are 50m and 100m for freestyle and butterfly,” he said.

Allan also competed in the Fina World Masters Championships 2019 in Gwangju, South Korea, where he achieved three gold medals and one bronze medal.
The athlete said this year’s Masters Swimming Nationals was a good meet, and he received Best Performance Male and the Victor Ludorum trophies.

“I’m very proud of my achievements, especially that I’m swimming against athletes who come from competitive swimming backgrounds. Many of them have swum for their national teams before.

Also read: Kearsney boosts school soccer

“I would not have been able to achieve these results without the support and help of many people, especially my wife, Eileen, my sons, Matthew and Mason, and my parents, Barbara and Kevin Allan. My brother, Brett, has been my training partner when I have not been training with a swim squad. A special thanks also to Graham du Toit for being my advisor, motivator and trainer, and Graham Hill who allowed me to join his elite swimming squad in the build-up to the World Aquatics Master Championship,” he said.

For the future, Allan said he is planning to travel to Doha at the end of February 2024 for the next World Aquatics Master Championships, where he hopes to improve his 100m Butterfly time. “All of this is self-funded, as are most South African sports, but we are always looking for sponsorships to ease the costs of going to competitions,” he said.

For more from the Highway Mail, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can also check out our videos on our YouTube channel or follow us on TikTok.