09 Apr 2019

Darrell Morton’s School of Swimming (DMSS) swimmer, Andile Bekker was the toast of the day at the Wimpy DMSS Gators Gala 2019 held at the University of Botswana swimming pool recently.

Bekker won the 50, 100, 200 metres backstroke, 100, 200 and 400 metres freestyle and 200 and 400 individual medley.

He was a marvel to watch in the 400 metres individual medley despite starting the race at a low pace. In the first 50 metres he was relaxed while his teammate Michael Walsh was leading the race.

Bekker showed that he was one of the best individual medley competitors as he balanced his speed, endurance and transitions with stroke variability.

In the last 50 metres it was clear that he was racing against the clock, as he had outpaced all the swimmers and was the first at the touchpad with a time of 5:17.07.

In position two was Ethan Fischer with 5:28.27 while the bronze medal went to another DMSS swimmer, Patrick Walsh with a time of 5:44.49.

Bekker said the race was tough due to the cold weather that made it uncomfortable for them to swim.

“However, I started the race at a low pace because I didn’t want to burn-out, so I had to start steadily so that I can finish strong, and I think it worked for me,” he said.

He said he would keep training hard preparing for other major competition, adding that his ambition was to compete at the FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in August in Budapest.

In the women category, Maxine Egner of DMSS also dominated all her races. She said she was happy with her performance.

Egner also showed class in the same events, outpacing her opponents and dominating all her races.

She said she was happy with her performance despite the fact that the weather was unfavourable.

She won the 200 metres freestyle in 2:20.66, followed by her two teammates Shamiso Mutonhodze with 2:36.06 while Mutinda Mutie settled for position three with 2:34.82.

The gala, which was sponsored by Wimpy, attracted 250 swimmers from different swimming clubs. ENDS