Parktown Girls High School learner Cyd Paton-Levin placed second in the Gauteng Schools Diving Trials to progress to the South African Schools’ Diving Competition.
Paton-Levin said coming second for the U18 diving team at the trials on September 24 was a nod for her hard work.
“It’s very exciting because I have worked hard up until this point and doing well gives me the motivation to continue.”
The Grade 12 learner added that she was happy to be selected for the U18 Gauteng team to compete in the South African Schools’ Diving Competition.
“I competed on October 15. I was very nervous like I always am for competitions but I believe I was well prepared.”
Paton-Levin said she still faced a few challenges in the sport.
“I realised I was good at diving in Grade 8 when I was doing dives that other learners weren’t able to do. The challenges I sometimes face are learning new dives and the tiredness I feel from an entire afternoon of training.”
The diver added that she had other hobbies.
“I do a lot of sports like ballet and contemporary dancing so I juggle it by having a strict timetable of what I’m doing…but it is difficult because for me a social life is important so I have to use all my extra time to get all my work done.”
The Parktown Girls learner said although she was passionate about swimming, she had plans of furthering her studies after matric.
She said she was interested in studying either criminal psychology, public relations or law.
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