Shane hopes to make a splash in Sanyo

AN uMhlanga resident is hoping to leave his mark on this year’s Sanyo Bussan International Cup in Japan. Shane Maguire, who is part of the Umhlanga Rocks Lifesaving Club has been chosen to be part of the international competition hosted by the Japan Lifesaving Association.

Maguire, who is the youngest competitor of the national team will be facing the likes of competitors from Australia, New Zealand, USA, Netherlands, Hong Kong and Japan in various competitions.

Last year saw Australia win the cup for the 10th successive time and Team SA finishing fourth in the overall team standings.

You may be also interested in: Dream come true for Schoeman

Maguire said he is looking forward to the competition which has been running since 2006.

“This will be my first time representing SA in lifesaving. I have represented the country before for biathle but this is going to be a whole new challenge. As one of the youngest team members I’ll be coming up against more senior competitors but it doesn’t daunt me. I feel it will lift my levels to compete against the other guys. I specialise in the flags event but I won’t know what my role is in the team until we get there so it’s going to be an exciting opportunity for me to prove myself.

“I’m so honoured to represent South Africa and I’m hoping to make both my club and the country proud. My coach in flags, Derek Morris, has represented the country in flags for many years and he has been one of my inspirations. I hope to emulate him in this competition. It’s going to be tough because the other countries will also be sending competitive teams but I’m looking forward to the challenge,” he said.

For more from Northglen News follow us on Facebook or Twitter. You can also follows us Instagram