By GARY LEMKE in Lilongwe
Kaitlynne Horne, a 15-year-old from Framesby High School in Gqeberha, had the distinction of being Team South Africa’s first gold medallist in the pool at the Region 5 Games in Lilongwe, Malawi. And afterwards the teenager heaped praise on her parents for the role they have played in getting her onto the top of the podium in international competition.
“I don’t know how they do it,” she said of her parents’ commitment to her swimming career. “We all wake up at 4am and then they take me to swimming, then back home and then I get to school on time. They then fetch me and take me to other activities. I really appreciate what they do for me … I love them so, so much.”
Horne comfortably won the 200m freestyle gold in 2min 11.11sec and is clearly a swimmer with a future. As for her past, she started young. “My aunt swam for South Africa and when I was five I had my first swim lesson. My mom used to gym at Bay Eagle Club and they had a swimming pool there. So she signed me up. I went to my first lesson to learn to swim and the teacher said that I needed to move up, that I was too advanced for my age group.
“I’ve been swimming for nearly 10 years, and competitively since I was about 8 or 9, at Bay Eagle. Earlier this year I represented Team South Africa for the first time, at World Juniors Open Water in the Seychelles. That was my first international flight as well and the second time I’d been on a plane. So, everything was still new for me and it still is. I’m learning all the time. I really enjoy the long distance events and apart from the 200m free, I also enjoy the 400m IM and the 200m backstroke.”
“I would really like to go to the Olympics one day, but Paris 2024 is probably too soon given my age, although you can never tell. I felt fine this afternoon and I tried to go harder than this morning. The first 50 was fairly comfortable and I was feeling my stroke and swimming nicely, The plan was to keep the middle 100 consistent, but looking at my splits I didn’t do that. In the last 50 I gave it my all.
“I’ve got so many role models, from Katie Ledecky to our best South Africans. I”ve met Rebecca Meder, Matt Sates, Pieter Coetze, Kaylene Corbett and Erin Gallagher and they are all so wonderful and the way they conduct themselves is amazing!”
Another gold medallist from day one where Team SA predictably made merry in the green pool that has been worked on in a race against time to get ready for these Games, was Kaydn Naidoo. The 19-year-old second year IT student won the 100m freestyle in 52.76sec. “The start probably wasn’t to my liking, but I made up for it in the race. It was close for the first 75 metres when I had guys next to me, but in the last 25m I made the decisive push for gold. I’m hoping for more than one gold, but I will see how things go.”
Naidoo learnt to swim early. “My dad got me into swimming before I could walk. I literally learnt to swim before I walked! It became second nature to me and I learnt butterfly and backstroke so they come in handy for the medley.”
Naidoo has also learnt to drive a car, but he feels a lot safer, and might be even faster, in water than he is on the tar!