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Africa Championships in Casablanca
Swimming South Africa has announced a squad of 22 swimmers to represent the country at the Senior African Championships in Morocco, Casablanca, from 13 to 19 September.
Included in the ladies team are the likes of Mandy Loots, a three time Olympian, Kathryn Meaklim and the fast improving backstroker Chanelle Van Wyk. Loots is no stranger to international competition (three Olympic Games) and has won four gold medals and a silver in the previous African Championships.
Meaklim has proven in the past she has the ability to deliver at big events when she set a world record in the 400m Individual Medley short course at the 2009 World Cup in Singapore. Meaklim also won a silver medal in the 400m IM at the Mare Nostrum Series in Canet, France, in 2009.
On the men's side, William Diering has returned to full-time swimming after taking a sabbatical for 18 months to concentrate on his studies. Other swimmers taking to the water include Darren Murray, Wesley Gilchrist, Garth Tune and Jay-Cee Thompson.
Diering is the defending Africa 200m Breaststroke Champion and also won silver in 2008. Youngster Darren Murray, who gave notice of his potential with a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Youth Games in India in 2008, picked up three silvers and gold at the African Championships, while Garth Tune waded in with the same medal tally, three silvers and gold in 2008.
The team is clearly a mixture of experience and youth and should once again be the dominant force at the Championships.
Full team list:
Ladies:
Jessica Ashley-Cooper
Amanda Loots
Kathryn Meaklim
Bianca Meyer
Vanessa Mohr
Karin Prinsloo
Ronwyn Roper
Chanelle van Wyk
Leone Vorster
Rene Warnes
Jessica Roux - Open Water
Men:
Lyle Aloile
Werner Bosman
Devon Myles Brown
William Diering
Wesley Gilchrist
Daniel Marais - Open Water
Darren Murray
Abdul-Malick Railoun - Open Water
Jay-Cee Thomson
Garth Tune
Neil Watson
