Golden girl
The prospect of an Olympic gold medal is becoming more real by the day for Knysna's star swimmer Aimee Canny who recently excelled at the FINA World Junior Championships in Budapest, finishing fourth and fifth in the 50m and 100m freestyle races respectively.
Aimee Canny, Oakhill Grade 9 pupil and local swimming superstar, astounded all again at this year's FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in Budapest, Hungary held between 20 and 25 August.
Aimee represented South Africa in the 50m and 100m freestyle events, earning fourth and fifth place respectively, just behind top American and Australian swimmers. The Junior World Championships are the youngest among the major International Swimming Federation (FINA) swimming events, with the inaugural edition taking place in 2006 in Rio de Janeiro.
This event is "designed" to discover the future stars of aquatics, and the usual pathway for swimmers is to shine first among the juniors and then conquer the senior waters. In the 100m freestyle heats, Aimee smashed her personal best time and broke the previous South African age group record by half a second, making it through to the semifinals on 21 August.
Here, Aimee took another second off her time, breaking her own personal best and again bettering the SA age-group record she had already broken in the morning. She posted a 54.87 sec race, advancing through to the finals on Thursday evening, where she touched in at 54.93 sec, earning fifth place under huge pressure in her first major international final.
The 50m freestyle heats took place next, where Aimee posted a time 25.48 in the prelims, which was an improvement of her lifetime best by 0.54 sec, and earned her a spot in the semifinals again on 24 August. Here she clocked an even faster time with a 25.29 sec finish, lowering her SA record yet again and securing her spot in the final race. Aimee placed a phenomenal fourth in the finals on Sunday 25 August, just behind Australia's Meg Harris, and USA's Maxine Parker and Gretchen Walsh.
Aimee has attended Oakhill from the start of her school life, and Head of School Jannie de Villiers is beyond proud. "A quality that sets Aimee apart is her calm composure in the company of worldclass competitors, with the eyes of the world upon her. It is her unassuming nature that gives her the strength of character to excel under unimaginable pressure."
The 15-year-old Aimee is coached independently by Grant Ferguson of the Knysna Dragons Club, and has been prospering since starting swimming with him in Grade 1. "I am very proud of Aimee's performances," Grant said. "She has put in hours of hard work, shows continuous dedication and has an amazing big match temperament. She is on her way to being the next South African Olympic medallist."
Looking back on the world championships, Aimee is still wrapping her head around everything. "It was an amazing experience, the conditions were incredible and I really had a great time," she said. "I didn't expect to do so well, I was really shocked, but all the hard work has finally paid off."