Swimming South Africa Opens High Performance Academy in Pretoria

DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA - APRIL 15: Marielle Venter during the finals session in the 200m backstroke semi final for women on day 6 of the SA National Aquatic Championships and Olympic Trials on April 15 , 2016 at the Kings Park Aquatic Center pool in Durban, South Africa. Photo Credit / Anesh Debiky/Swim SA

Photo Courtesy: Anesh Debiky/Swimming South Africa

In line with their three tier strategy of building capacity at Universities, Schools and Clubs for High Performance Sport, Swimming South Africa recently signed a Memorandum of Agreement with Tyger Valley College Pretoria for the establishment of a High Performance Schools Swimming Academy based at the Tyger Valley College Campus.

The aim of this initiative is to build capacity at Universities to support regional High Performance structures that incorporate schools and clubs in a hub that can access coaching expertise and sports science support and which, in turn, will form Regional Swimming Academies.

The Swimming South Africa partnership with Tyger Valley College has seen the first school academy being formally established with the experienced SSA Olympic coach Igor Omeltchenko at the Head of the Operations. Igor, who was formally with the University of Pretoria, will bring a set of competencies and skills that will greatly benefit the Academy.

Tyger Valley College has a wealth of swimming talent that needs to be nurtured and with some of South Africa’s Olympic swimmers based at the academy, serving as role models for the up and coming swimmers at the college.

The learn-to-swim and coaching programmes currently at the college will significantly complement the SSA High Performance Strategy.

The academy is a culmination of the hard work of the school’s leadership and the Swimming South Africa team lead by Igor and SSA’s gratitude goes out to them for ensuring that the plan is implemented.

Tyger Valley College has excellent facilities with an open-air heated 10 Lane 25m Pool conforming to FINA Standards, this facility lends itself to producing athletes of an outstanding calibre and it is hoped that in the not too distant future there will be, Regional and National Short Championships being held at the Tyger Valley facility.

Swimming South Africa has identified twenty such schools across the country to form part of the Schools High-Performance Academy system and this strategy will now be rolled out over the next two years.

Swimming South Africa is particularly grateful for the support received from SASCOC, The Department of Sports and Recreation, our Sponsors the SABC and the National Lotteries Commission. Our affiliates and, in this instance, Aquatics Gauteng, The Centurus Group of Colleges and in particularly Tyger Valley College for entering into this partnership with Swimming South Africa.

Press release courtesy of Swimming South Africa.

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