Swimmers pack pool for 45th Aquabear gala
More than 500 athletes take part in PE competition
YESTERDAY marked the final day of the annual Aquabear Invitational swimming gala, which saw more than 500 swimmers from all over South Africa in action at the Newton Park Swimming Pool in Port Elizabeth.
The event is in its 45th year and is aimed at creating a swimming competition of a high standard, where swimmers from out of town give the Port Elizabeth swimmers a run for their money.
A total of 34 clubs from around the country participated in this year’s event.
The gala also served as trials for the Commonwealth Paralympics taking place on the Gold Coast, Australia in April.
Aquabear president and head coach Brian Elliot said the gala had been a great success.
“The past four days have gone well. The officials have been very good. They have been very much on the ball and ran the gala exceptionally well,” Elliot said.
“I actually started Aquabear and formulated the whole thing. The gala format, which is used here, was also my brainchild.
“We had a lot more entries until six years ago. We used to host the gala in the first week of the December holidays, but then Swimming South Africa decided that all the provinces should have their provincial championships during the same period at the beginning of December.
“We had to rethink the timing of the gala and brought it back to these holidays. Unfortunately, this has had an effect on the number of entries. “We did well over 500 entries this year. However, in December, we used to have over 1 000.”
He said the gala attracted huge interest from people out of town because of its format, where the event is spread over four days, and older swimmers take part in heats in the morning and finals in the evening, which is something that many galas do not do.
Elliot said swimming in South Africa was not at the level where it should be.
“We are on a little bit of a downer at the moment. We have a lot of talent in this country. “We really need to look after our top swimmers and see that they get good competition, and then support them to go to the major competitions,” he said.
“This type of competition, I believe, helps mature the younger kids and starts getting them into higher level competitions.
“Then you have the grand prix series, which Swimming SA runs, where the top swimmers get to swim against each other a few times before the season starts.
“This type of gala we have here helps foster that kind of interest in the younger kids to get to that level,” Elliot said.
First-year Rhodes University BCom accounting student Khanya Jack, 19, said it was her second gala.
“The past couple of days have been good. I raced in all the butterfly events and I swam breaststroke and relays with my teammates.
“It’s been a great experience and the swims have been okay,” Jack said.
Tiara Finnis, 11, of Collegiate Junior, said she was very proud of her times.
“The event has gone very well. I have recorded my personal best in all the races that I have taken part in, except the 200 back.”