THE Allan family and friends gathered at the Westville Old Boys’ Sports Club to celebrate Marc Allan who achieved four gold medals at the World Aquatics Masters in Doha recently.
Allan’s win comes after a few months. He won two silver and two gold medals, breaking a record for the 50m butterfly in the 45–49 age group at the World Aquatics Master Championships in Japan.
Also read: Westville swimmer breaks world record
Allan is an avid swimmer who started at the age of five and made several achievements, including being selected for 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’s and the 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,” said Allan.
With his recent win in the 45–49-year-old age group in discipline swimming, Allan achieved four gold medals in his individual races which were the 50m and 100m freestyle and 50m and 100m butterfly, with his relay team achieving bronze in the mixed and men’s 50m freestyle relays.
While celebrating with his family and friends, Allan said he is grateful for their support, especially his brother who has been with him since he started training.
“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.
“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,” said Allan.
Also read: Summerveld swimmer breaks barriers
Brett Allan, Marc’s brother, who also has swimming successes to his name, said he is happy for his brother.
“Being with my brother during the competition was a great experience, and seeing the effort put in to make the competition work, and the amount of training and talent there is among the competitors, it was a proud moment to see him come at the top,” said Brett.
Marc was celebrated by his loved ones over lunch and drinks on Saturday.
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