SA names team for Commonwealth Games
Aquatics is the biggest code in terms of numbers with 28 (23 swimmers, three divers and two para-swimmers) while athletics and cycling both feature 18 athletes.
THE South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) has named the team that will represent the country at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in Australia.
“Team South Africa athletes will do battle across 16 codes, including para-sports athletics, lawn bowls, swimming, table tennis and powerlifting,” it said on Tuesday.
South African athletes will participate in sporting codes such as athletics, badminton, bowls, boxing and cycling (mountain bike, road and track), among others.
SASCOC said the men’s Sevens Rugby Team will only be announced at the end of February.
Aquatics is the biggest code in terms of numbers with 28 (23 swimmers, three divers and two para-swimmers) while athletics and cycling both feature 18 athletes. Aquatics boasts the two youngest members of the team in the form of Luan Grobbelaar and Dune Coetzee (15), while lawn bowler Princess Schreuder, at 67, is the oldest competitor in the team.
Two codes, para-table tennis and para-powerlifting, both have just one competitor.
The team includes Rio Olympics gold medallist track athlete, Caster Semenya, silver medallist swimmers Cameron van der Burgh and Chad le Clos, field athletes Luvo Manyonga and Sunette Viljoen and bronze medallists Henri Schoeman (triathlon) and the men’s rugby Sevens side.
“As SASCOC, we’re very excited to deliver this team for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games. Many hours of planning have gone into preparing this team,” said SASCOC President Gideon Sam of the games that will take place between 4 and 15 April.
