La Lucia sisters shine at open water swimming events

LA LUCIA sisters Mykae and Bailey Forrest have produced some exceptional results in open water swimming in the past few weeks. The duo, who are learners at Our Lady of Fatima Dominican Convent School took part in the aQuellé Midmar Mile last month and more recently the SA National Open Water Swimming Championships held in Marina Martinique in Jeffrey’s Bay.

Mykae (16) finished sixth overall in the elite women’s race at the Midmar Mile and then followed up her impressive showing with a silver medal in the 7.5 event and a gold medal for finishing first in her age group in the 5km event at the open water champs.

This year’s competition also doubled as the official trials for the FINA World Junior Open Water Swimming Championships in Seychelles in August where the top two athletes in the 5km, 7.5km and 10km events from the relevant age groups would be considered for selection.

“It’s really exciting to be eligible for the national team which would be a dream come true. Last year I managed to qualify in the 5km race for the world champs but sadly Covid-19 had the last say. So that was a bit disappointing not to go but I’m hopeful that this year I’ll be able to represent my country in an international event. It’s a really exciting prospect,” she said.

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Speaking on her Midmar Mile performance, the Grade 10 learner, said the finish was extremely tight with only a hundreths of a second separating third place (Carli Antonopoulos) and sixth place.

“It was such an exciting finish. There were four of us, including last year’s Midmar Mile winner, Robyn Kinghorn. It was just split seconds but I was pleased with my overall performance but for me the highlight was seeing my sister win back to back titles in the U13 category at the Midmar Mile. She swam an exceptional race,” Mykae said.

Her sister, Bailey, also spoke to Northglen News about securing back-to-back Midmar Mile titles in the U13 category.

“I think overall I improved from last year at Midmar where I finished in the top 20 to finishing ninth this year. I think winning the U13 title back to back was a great achievement. I think I made a big improvement in my times and I feel I had trained hard for it. It was really tough but I’m already preparing for next year’s race,” the 13-year-old said.

The Grade 8 learner also took part in the 3km race at the open water champs finishing first in her age category and fifth overall.

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She added her inspiration in the water was her sister who she saw as her role model.

“I look up to Mykae a lot. It’s incredibly special having someone who understands the challenges in the water and who supports me whenever I’m competing. She is definitely one of my role models and I’m so happy to have her in my corner,” she said.

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