By GARY LEMKE in Swakopmund
In the space of a couple of hours at The Dome indoor facility in Swakopmund, Team SA confirmed their status as the powerhouse of the pool as the Region 5 Games sprung into life on Saturday.
There were 13 swimmers involved in the late afternoon finals in a 25m short-course pool which is good for racing. Of those 13, only Jayden Williams (boys 50m breaststroke) missed out on a medal. Throw in three golds in the session-ending relays and Team SA signed off their first day in the water with 15 medals – 10 of them gold.
Georgia Els, a rising force from the University of Pretoria, claimed four medals – two golds and two silvers – while Matthew Pretorius and Jessica Cormody both packed three into their bags.
However, what might rank as the most meritorious performance of the day was that of Morgan Cope, who won the 100m breaststroke in 1min 07.74sec, a personal best and marking her as a swimmer to watch going forward.
She might be 19, but the fact she only took up the sport in 2021 at Generation School in Somerset West shows that she has a lot of development still to come. At primary school (Sweet Valley in Cape Town) she was a high jump champion, but admits that she “fell in love with swimming” when trying it at high school.
Cope was still buzzing well after the final national anthem of the day was played at the medal ceremony – Nkosi Sikelel iAfrika no less – and basking in the achievement.
“I honesty didn’t think coming to this gala that I could PB. My training leading up to these Games was not the best, and we didn’t have much time to prepared. But I was relaxed in my mind and I knew I was doing it for my country and not for myself and my times. It allowed me to be relaxed in my stroke. I’ve never felt that good in a 100m breaststroke race before, ever.”
Cope carved three seconds off her morning heat in winning the gold, doing so by opening up a 3.5 second margin to her teammate Els in second. “This is the first gold I’ve ever won for South Africa and it means the world to me,” she said.
When reminded that the 100m breaststroke at these Region 5 Games has produced the likes of Lara van Niekerk and Simone Moll, Cope said. “I honestly don’t see myself at that level or in that company of swimmer. Simone is one of my role models!”
The fact is that should Cope continue her improvement and development, people will start sitting up and taking more notice of her. She has announced herself and now a new audience will watch her progress.
Indiana de Villiers also caught the eye with a string win in the 50m butterfly. The 18-year-old beat Els to the wall in 27.49 and followed that up by being part of the girls 4x100m freestyle quartet that won gold.
For a full breakdown of Team SA’s swimming success on Saturday, see our results service.
Golds were won by Els, Cope, De Villiers, the boys and girls 4x100m freestyle and the mixed 4×100 medley relay squad.
Photo of Morgan Cope by ROGER SEDRES