Volkwyn shines for SA
AFTER two seasons of injury disappointments and two knee operations, Ashton Volkwyn ensured her name would be remembered for a long time after an excellent performance in the pool last week
The Grade 10 Pearson pupil shone in the CANA Zone IV Junior Swimming championships in Lilongwe, Malawi, claiming three gold medals and a silver medal.
Swimming in the 50, 100 and 200m breaststroke events, Volkwyn, 15, showed some of the best junior swimmers a clean pair of heels as she powered home in 36.73 seconds (50m); 1:19.28 (100m) and 2:50.47 (200m).
She was also part of the quartet which took silver in the 4 x 100m medley relay in a time of 4:16.96. She swam the breaststroke leg.
Besides her exploits in the breaststroke and medley relay, Volkwyn also swam in the 50, 100 and 200m backstroke, the 50 and 100m freestyle and the 200m individual medley events.
Representing South Africa for the first time, Volkwyn hopes this will be the start of many more successful trips to the pool with the national team.
“Bringing home the medals was quite a shock, and so, too, were my times,” the Infinity Swimming Academy member said.
“I was not expecting it, but I am very proud of my achievements.”
Speaking about the level of opposition at the championships, Volkwyn said she expected some tougher competition in the races in which she took gold.
“My competition for my main races was not what I thought it would be,” she said.
“There were some strong contenders in the 100m breaststroke race, but I think it could have been much stronger in the other two races.”
Having started swimming at an early age, Volkwyn said it was the water safety aspect of swimming which led her to get into the pool, on advice from her parents.
“My coach, David Glover, a teacher at St George’s Prep at the time, introduced me to competitive swimming in Grade 1, and it soon became a serious sport for me,” she said.
Volkwyn has worked with Glover at Infinity for the last two years.