CAPE TOWN - South African National Lifesaving champion in 2017 and 2018 Nick Notten will spearhead Team South Africa’s men’s squad at the world championships in Australia late this year.
Fish Hoek’s Notten won the prestigious Men’s Iron Race at the recent General Tire Lifesaving SA National Championships in Port Elizabeth, and also won the overall title for best male athlete. Notten’s older brother Dominic, an icon of Lifesaving in SA, is also in the squad.
Fish Hoek, as the club did in 2017, won the 2018 National Surf title. Their men’s squad is particularly powerful and this is reflected with four of the 10-strong national squad coming from Fish Hoek.
SA’s celebrated Flags and Sprint specialist, False Bay’s Ryle de Morny, is another of the Western Cape's experienced lifesavers to make the senior squad, while Fish Hoek’s Candice Murray is the only female competitor outside of KwaZulu-Natal in the women’s senior squad.
KZN's Marine dominated in the Pool and Surf in PE and the province’s best athletes have been rewarded with nine of the 10 senior female selections.
Marine’s powerhouse women make up seven of the 10 selections in the open women’s squad, among them 2018 National Championship Overall Female winner Sasha-Lee Nordengen and the 2017 SA Lifesaving Female of the Year and winner of 15 titles in PE, Carmel Billson. Durban Surf’s veteran sprinter Mandi Maritz and Amica de Jager add further KZN flavour to the Women’s squad.
KZN is also well represented among the senior men with Marine’s Martin Binnedal and Josh Saunders picked along with SA National sprint champions Johnathan Rorke (Scottburgh). SA, thanks to the combined financial efforts of Lifesaving SA, its primary sponsor General Tire and the National Lotteries Commission, was able to select the strongest possible squad for the sport’s premier global competition in November.
"We are appreciative of the sacrifice made all year round by the athletes in serving the Federation and as an investor in the sport of Lifesaving we also understand the importance of Team South Africa’s international standing as one of the leading nations in the sport," said Continental Tyre (SA) marketing manager, Ian Langlands.
"We’ve extended our sponsorship to making a financial contribution to the squad, along with what is already being financially committed by the Federation and the National Lotteries Commission."
Sanele Dlamini from the KZN Provincial Office of the National Lotteries Commission added: "We thank Lifesaving SA for their positive contribution in South Africa and we thank them for acknowledging the impact the NLC has across South Africa. We are proud to support Lifesaving SA by funding their high-performance programmes and international participation."
Team South Africa World Championship squad:
Senior women - Amica de Jager, Mandi Maritz (both Durban Surf), Kyeta Purchase, Carmel Billson, Sasha-Lee Nordengen, Teegan Hardwick, Haley Nixon, Kristin Bellingham, Bianca von Bargen (all Marine), Candice Murray (Fish Hoek)
Senior men - Josh Saunders, Martin Binnedal (Marine), Ryle de Mornay (False Bay), Mark Keeling, Kenny Rice, Nick Notten, Dominic Noitten (all Fish Hoek), Johnathan Rorke (Scottburgh), Johan Lourens, Ricardo Peach (Tuks)
Youth women - Salinke van den Berg (Manguang), Alice Edward (Pirates), Bianca Opperman, Ally Chislett (both Harties), Deborah Dredge (Tuks). Kira Bester, Megan Kreft, Taylor Yates (all Strand), Tamryn McKie (Marine), Madison Malherbe (East London), Page Horn (Umhlanga).
Youth men - Milan Erasmus (Durban Surf), Juan Pierre van Zyl (Harties), Matthew Fenn (East London), Renuldo Pedro (King’s Beach), Connor Botha, Shane Macquire, Matthew Maroun (all Umhlanga), Bennie van der Merwe (Bellville), Uli Hart (Fish Hoek), Ryan Chandler (Milnerton).