Podium finish for SA lifesavers
The South African team raked in a slew of gold medals at the recent international event hosted in Durban.
A DOMINANT Australian team made a clean sweep of test victories when they claimed the third and final test of the 2019 International Surf Rescue Challenge last week at North Beach.
For the vast majority of the three tests, the team from Down Under were unrivalled. There were also marked periods where they were put under pressure by New Zealand and South Africa.
The third test started in far calmer conditions and South Africa flew out of the blocks with Westville’s Tatum Botha winning the opening event of the day, the youth girls’ surf swim.
It was a tough start for Botha who took a tumble at the beginning but who showed steely resolve to fight her way back to add to South Africa’s four gold medals.
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“I fell into a hole and then looked up and I was last,” said Botha. “From there, I just knew I had to work hard. The competition is so tough that I was just chasing and chasing but then that wave came for me and I worked so hard to get ahead and extend my lead.”
The South African team can be pleased with their performance as a number of gold medals have been added to their cabinet. From a team perspective, the South African captain, Dom Notten, was happy with the team’s return during the three days.
“I am pretty happy with how it went, but there is a lot to think about in terms of athletes crossing over from the sea to the land events. We had a couple of injuries too and conditions were tough, but those are things you cannot predict so it’s all about adapting.
“There are events that we are quite far behind in, but there are also those events that we are really good at. We have a strong surfski culture and if we can build on the other events like that, then we will do well going forward.”
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