Paralympians amongst South Africa’s Glasgow 2015 squad
A team of 10 athletes will represent South Africa at the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships in Glasgow, Great Britain, from 13-19 July.
The team will take on the world’s top para-swimmers, totalling nearly 650 athletes from around 50 countries, at the largest competition ahead of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.
The seven men and three women include double Paralympian and reigning men’s 100m breaststroke SB9 world champion Kevin Paul. The 23-year-old also won gold in the event at Beijing 2008 and heads into Glasgow as the current world No. 1.
Hendrik Herbst, who made his Paralympic debut at London 2012, went on to win two medals in men’s S11 events at the last edition of the World Championships in Montreal, Canada, in 2013.
Achmat Hassiem, 22, who lost his right leg below the knee following a shark attack in 2006, is also a double Paralympian and bronze medallist in the 100m butterfly S10 from London 2012.
On the women’s side, S9 swimmer Emily Gray, 23, completes the quad of Paralympians heading to one of the biggest qualification opportunities for the next Paralympic Games.
Tubby Reddy, SASCOC Chief Executive Officer, said: “Swimming has always been one of the codes which has made South African sport proud. This occasion should be no different. These are all top swimmers and I have no doubt that they’ll grab a good few medals in Glasgow.”
President Gideon Sam invoked the performances of South African swimmers at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, in the same pool that will be used for the World Championships: “We wish the team all the very best in Glasgow where our swimmers had a successful Commonwealth Games last year.
“With the retirement of some of our leading para-swimmers in the last while it’s now up to this group of talented athletes to step up to the plate and show that they can still fly the South African flag proudly. We are only just over a year from the Rio Paralympics and this is an ideal platform for our para-swimmers to shine.’
At Montreal 2013, South Africa finished joint 22nd on the medals table with seven medals (one gold, two silver and four bronze).
The team will be managed by Dea Slattery and accompanied by coaches Karin Hugo, Delon Dannhauser, Sibani Makhanya and Theo Verster as well as physiotherapist Jessica Joffe.
Men
- Hendrik Herbst, S11
- Kevin Paul, S10, SB9
- Achmat Hassiem, S10
- Johann van Heerden, S10, SB9
- Challis Wright, S14
- Hendrik van der Merwe, S6, SB5
- James Bezuidenhout, S9, SB8
Women
- Emily Gray, S9
- Adri Visser, S5, SB4
- Beth Nothling, S5
Sourced by: SASCOC
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Swimming South Africa is the governing body of aquatics in South Africa.
Its objective is to encourage the practice of aquatic disciplines for all in South Africa with the purpose of promoting swimming as a life skill through Learn To Swim programmes; providing healthy exercise to South Africans of all ages and races; recruiting recreational swimmers to compete in the various competitions; and promoting competition and athlete development to the highest level.
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