Ally shines at world lifesaving champs
The Danville Park Girls' High School learner won silver in the surf swim for the South African junior team and a bronze medal in the taplin relay.
IT was an international tournament to remember for Durban North’s Ally Chislett who walked away with two medals from last year’s Lifesaving World Championships (LWC) held in Adelaide (Australia).
The Danville Park Girls’ High School learner won silver in the surf swim for the South African junior team. The talented youngster also won a bronze medal in the taplin relay with fellow local residents, Alice Edward, Paige Horn and Cape Town’s Kira Bester.
“I was really happy with my results considering I had about five swims on the one day as opposed to two. On the day the surf swim event and other beach events were meant to start there was a horrible storm and they had to cancel all the events. So the next day I had a jam packed series of races which in the end suited me. My goal for the junior surf swim was to make the top three, so to end with a silver medal was awesome,” she said.
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The 17-year-old praised her fellow athletes who helped secure a bronze medal in the taplin relay.
“As a team we wanted to medal, we knew the Australia and New Zealand teams would be strong and they led for most of the way but we managed to secure the third position. We were all determined to make it on to the podium and it was a great team effort,” she said.
A strong performance from the youth team saw the South African junior team finish fourth overall in the medal standings.
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The fourth-place finish, among 16 teams, was the best ever result for South Africa’s youth in the history of the competition.
“I think we had one of the strongest squads at the competition and I believe we will continue to improve and become stronger for the next world champs. We were all chuffed to finish fourth overall,” she said.
Chislett, who is a member of the Suncoast Pirates Lifesaving Club, thanked her parents for their role in her success.
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