Swimming 2015
The following information has been taken from the report for the 2015 magazine.
U19A What a year to be part of the RBHS swimming team. Just the thought of the Rondebosch team
generated fear in so many of our rival schools’ eyes and so it should. Rondebosch has built a huge
reputation for itself as being one of the top swimming schools in the Western Cape and possibly South
Africa and by doing so it attracts the best talent Western Province can offer. This ensures that
Rondebosch swimming will continue in its path of swimming greatness for many years to come.
RBHS swimming started off on a high note as all our swimmers showcased their excellence to the rest
of the school at our annual Inter-House swimming gala. This year, Ramage managed to defend their
swimming cup with outstanding performances from the whole team. This has only been the second
time ever that Ramage has won this Cup in history. The Ramage team was led by Jarod van Blerk
who also managed to receive the U18 trophy, as well as the Victor Ludorum trophy, for obtaining the
most points overall at this event. The U14 trophy was won by Ramage’s, Charl Botha and the U16
trophy went to Ramage’s, Marcus Gunton. This event was definitely a highlight for the whole school
who sang their hearts out and made sure the swimmers were cheered on at all times, but especially for
the swimmers as it kick-started what was to be an incredible season in the water.
The highly anticipated Newlands gala was drawing ever closer and our boys could feel the pressure.
This Gala is the coming together of the top swimming schools in the Western Cape to compete for the
most wanted trophy in school boy swimming, the Steven’s Shield. The gala saw us swimming in front
of a crowd of over 3 000 spectators, a daunting task for our Grade 8 “newbies”. We gathered under
the oak at Newlands pool which the team fondly refers to as “The Bosch Tree” with our coach Mr
Claassen doing an incredible job of calming us down when we needed it, but also building us up and
preparing the team when it was time to go. Jarod van Blerk did his Captain’s Speech and all the
talking was over. It was time to show the crowd what we had come there to do. As nerve wracking as
it was, our boys showed their nerves of steel and managed to retain the Steven’s Shield. This was our
14th win in 15 years and also our 9th consecutive win. Our boys did incredibly well on the night with
some outstanding individual performances, but we also showcased our depth of swimming at our
school by winning all the relays on the night.
Many of our swimmers also went on to compete at the Level 3 National Championships, which is the
highest level of age group competition in South Africa. Some also took part at the South African
Senior Nationals and South African Short Course Nationals or even Level 2 National Championships.
This is a tremendous achievement by our boys and we can be very proud them. These achievements
prove, once again, that RBHS swimming is one of the best in the country.
On behalf of the entire swimming team, I would like to thank our coach Mr. Claassen and his
coaching staff for once again leading us to success throughout the course of the season. Without your
help, none of the achievements mentioned above would be possible and for that we are extremely
grateful. I hope we made you as proud as we possibly could. To the swimmers of 2016, maintain the
reputation of excellence at our school by swimming to your full potential, but also by remaining
humble, and remember that together you can achieve anything. Best of luck for next year!
J van Blerk
COACH: S Bonney MANAGER: R Claassen TEAM: J van Blerk (c), G Von Aspern (c), C Botha,
D Buckland, A de Kock, J Freeman, M Gunton , J Hablutzel, E Jacobs, L Jacobs, M Johnson, B
Kelly, A Laugksch, N Mortley, T Oliver, A Ritchie, B Samuels, J Schoeman, J Templeton, D van
Houten, R Whitaker, R Whitaker