Making Waves: WIS Swimmers Shine at Short Course Nationals!

Last week, a few of our students represented our school proudly at the Bank Windhoek Short Course Swimming National Championships!

Scarlett - Grade 2

Scarlett from Grade 2B took part in her first Bank Windhoek Short Course Nationals. She swam the 50m Freestyle, placing 5th out of 14 swimmers, and her relay team secured gold in the 200m Mixed Freestyle Relay. What an amazing competition and a fantastic achievement for Scarlett.

Patrick - Grade 7

My SC swimming championships

I recently competed at the National Short Course Swimming Championships and I am really happy with how I did. I swam 18 events and won a medal in every event — 11 Gold, 5 Silver and 2 Bronze. One of my biggest highlights was breaking the U12 boys record in the 800m Freestyle. I was also really excited to win the Junior Victor Ludorum for the third year in a row.

I am very proud of my results and all the hard work I put into my swimming. It was a great Championship, and I really enjoyed competing.

Jade - Grade 7

Representing Windhoek International School and Dolphins Swimming Club at Nationals in Swakopmund last week was a really great experience, especially getting to compete against swimmers from clubs all across the country and hang out with my friends. I was super happy to get personal bests and improve my times in all my races, especially making the finals in the 200m back, 50m breast, and 100m fly! I’m definitely feeling super tired now and trying to get back into the school routine, but it was an amazing week, and I'm really proud of how it went.   

Suraya - Grade 9

Recently I went to Swakopmund for the National Swimming Championships and went to compete with different swimmers from around Namibia. My performances were all very good; what mainly stood out for me was my 100m Backstroke, my strategy worked well and I got a 1:11.73. In total, I got 10 medals: 50m fly, back, and free, 100m, fly, back, and free, and 200m back, for my individual races and 4 relays. I feel like that gala has made me very close to everyone, made me feel more connected with my friends and helped me make more friendships. What made me really emotional was everyone shouting for me in the 50m fly when they saw I was shaken up. And hearing people cheer for me in the 50m free, I heard a lot of voices from Dolphins, Aqua, Oranjemund and Mac, I heard elders and younger people, which made me feel very proud to win. I really enjoyed Nationals, and I can't wait for long course Nationals.

Scarlett - Grade 9

The Short Course National Championships in Swakopmund were such a great experience. Having recently moved up into a very competitive age group, I was really happy to come away with three medals and lots of new personal best times. The five days of racing were definitely exhausting, with most of the day spent at the pool, but the atmosphere and competition were amazing as always. I also had so much fun racing alongside my friends and teammates. I’m really grateful to my coach and Dolphins Swimming Club for all the training, encouragement, and support leading up to Nationals.

Gizelle - Grade 11

Participating and representing my team at the National Swimming Competition in the age group 15-16 was an event I was really looking forward to. I participated in 11 individual events and made finals for each of my events, making incredible personal bests in each event. I also competed in 4 relays and broke 3 records with my relay teams. I came home with 8 medals: 4 gold, 1 silver, and 3 bronze. This competition was a great success, and I learned that if I put my mind to it and remember that I have trained for this, I can do anything. 

Candice - Grade 11

Representing my team at the National Swimming Gala in the 15–16 age group was everything I had been working toward for months. I took on13 individual events and 4 relays. I was thrilled to achieve personal bests in almost all of my individual events and make the finals for every single one. I was proud to bring home 13 medals: 4 Gold, 6 Silver, and 3 Bronze. The biggest moment for me came in the 200m Freestyle, my main focus and ultimate goal for the season. Hitting 631 FINA points officially unlocked my qualification for the Junior World Championships! Achieving what I’ve been working for over the past few months makes every early morning training worth it!

Zafari - Grade 12

This Nationals, I swam 13 events and 2 relays. I got a PB in some of my events and won 1 gold and 1 silver medal for the relays and 1 bronze medal for the 1500m. As this was my last national championship due to the IB stress, it was a very emotional experience, but overall I really enjoyed it. Doing a competitive sport in the IB DP can be extremely stressful and overwhelming (10 hrs of training  per week), but at the same time I think that this sport has helped me deal with my stress in a sense. It gave me a mental break and a physical push.