29 July 2014 : Bronze medallists (L-R) Leith Shankland, Chad le Clos, Cameron van der Burgh and Sebastien Rousseau of South Africa pose during the medal ceremony for the Men's 4 x 100m Medley Relay Final at Tollcross International Swimming Centre during day six of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Leith Shankland was born in Springs on 30 June 1991. He attended Westville BHS near Durban, where he swam with coach Graham Hill.

He competed in the 4 × 100 metre medley relay event at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He is 6'5" and 200 lbs. He also competed at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. He won a bronze medal in the 4 x 100 metre medley relay and a silver in the 4 x 100m freestyle relay. He also qualified for the 100m freestyle final. At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, he was part of the South African teams that won silver in the men's 4 x 100 m freestyle relay and bronze in the men's 4 x 100 m medley relay.

Personal best times

10 June 2012: Princess Charlene of Monaco (C) poses with (L-R) Leith Shankland, Chad Le Clos Graham Hill and Ben Titley during the 30th International Swimming Competition Gala Dinner on June 10, 2012 in Monaco, Monaco. 

Durban’s Olympic Swimmer

While the world holds its breath for the 2012 London Olympics, WBHS is putting its full support behind the SA Swimming Team which has no less than 3 Westville old boys taking to the pool for SA, Chad le Clos, Leith Shankland and Charl Crous. And to add to this, the Olympic Swimming Coach, Graham Hill is another Westville old boy. This is the first time in the history of the Olympic Games that so many swimmers from one school are representing their country at the games.

GO TO www.wbhs.co.za and click on Bulletins for a schedule of when Chad, Charl and Leith are swimming.

Photos and writing by Westville Boys High School

https://showme.co.za/durban/interactive/durbans-olympic-swimmer/ 

Charl Crous was born on 25 September 1990 in Johannesburg.

In the 2010 Commonwealth Games held in India, the South African 4x100m medley team of Charl Crous, Cameron van der Burgh, Chad le Clos and Gideon Louw took silver behind Australia.

At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he finished 33rd overall in the heats in the Men's 100-metre backstroke. He was also part of the South African 4 × 100 m medley relay team

South African swimmer and Olympic qualifier Charl Crous through the lens

30 April 2012

KwaZulu-Natal swimming ace Charl Crous qualified for his first trip to the Olympics at the recent South African National Championships with a win in the 100 backstroke. His time of 54.17 ranked 20th in the world this year and betters the FINA A standard to secure his spot in London.

Crous, the national age group record holder in all three backstroke distances and member of the 2009 world championship team, will also likely swim the backstroke leg of the 400 medley relay at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

https://www.phototalk.co.za/2012/04/south-african-swimmer-and-olympic-qualifier-charl-crous-through-the-lens/ 

How Olympic swimmer Charl Crous revived Leila Dachraoui’s career Dachraoui returned to competitive swimming after a 27-year hiatus.

May 30, 2024

The impact of the right coach on an athlete can be the difference between medals and retirement.

For Tunisian masters swimmer Leila Dachraoui (52), that effect was almost instant after meeting Ballito coach and former Olympic swimmer Charl Crous in 2016.

The duo met while both were living in Dubai, but have kept their coach/athlete relationship going from afar ever since, as Leila moved back to Tunisia and Charl to Ballito.

Leila had previously enjoyed a promising swimming career in high school, claiming national age group titles and representing her country in the African Games, where she won a medley gold medal in 1987.

But life, family and a career as a practicing lawyer and professor kept her away from the pool for 27 years before the desire to compete bubbled back to the surface.

“My children had grown up and I decided that I wanted to get back into the sport I had grown up loving,” said Leila, who visited Ballito for a three-week training camp.

“I reached out to some friends at a large swimming club in France, who set me a time that I would need to swim to become a member.”

Leila missed the initial time and figured she probably needed some help after not swimming competitively for so long.

A friend recommended Charl, and a few days later they met and their partnership began, with an eye to swimming in the French Masters Championships six weeks later.

She cut both her 50m and 100m backstroke times by almost 5 seconds apiece – a huge difference in short-distance swimming terms – before claiming a silver and bronze medal in her age group.

That was all the proof she needed that Charl was the right coach and together they have trained for a number of major events, including two World Masters Championships.

In February this year, Leila claimed her first World Masters medal in Doha – a bronze in 50-54 100m backstroke, adding a fourth placed finish in the 50m backstroke.

It is a medal she hopes to improve on when she takes on next year’s World Masters in Singapore, should she recover from injury in time.

For Charl, the difference in Leila’s competitive ability has been living proof of his hard work, combined with hers of course.

“It was very interesting training Leila to begin with, because it had been so long since she had trained at a high level,” said Charl.

“It became more about creating personalised programmes to untap all of her previous potential. We have basically spoken daily since 2016, giving feedback and getting ready for the next challenge.”

Charl, who is also a backstroke specialist, swam at the London Olympics in 2012 and has since made his home in Ballito as a full-time coach.

He is one of the head coaches at the Ashton Swim Academy, which provides lessons for everyone from kids learning to swim to those competing at a national level.

“It is great to have all of the swimmers under one banner. Someone can start here at 8 years old and have consistent training and coaching for their next 10 years,” he said.

“There is some great talent on the North Coast and we are really excited about some of the swimmers coming through.”

Charl Crous, Chad le Clos and Luke Pendock 

Ashton Swimming Academy is based at the Ashton International College in Ballito.

Gillian Sanders was born on 15 October 1981 in Pietermaritzburg and took up triathlon in her youth under the influence of her father and older sister, who both competed in the sport.

Gillian was a member of the South African Mixed relay team- with Henri Schoeman, Kate Roberts and Richard Murray that took second place in the event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games held in Glasgow. All four athletes on a team must complete a super-sprint triathlon - 300m swim, approx 6.6km bike and 1km run - before tagging off to a teammate.

After competing internationally in age group and junior competition Sanders put her triathlon career on hold whilst studying law at Stellenbosch University, where she competed as a 1500m runner. She resumed triathlon competition after graduating, combining it with legal work.

Sanders chose to focus on full-time competition at the end of 2011. She competed in the Women's event at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

2014  Commonwealth Games Mixed Relay silver medal winners from South Africa - Kate Roberts, Henri Schoeman, Gillian Sanders and Richard Murray.

Relay takeover with Richard Murray at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

1995 ITU World Championships with my sister at Cancun Junior Women 13-15 year old.

Kate Roberts won a silver medal in the mixed triathlon relay team - with Gillian Sanders, Henri Schoeman and Richard Murray -  in the 2014 Commonwealth Games held in Glasgow. All four athletes on a team must complete a super-sprint triathlon - 300m swim, approx 6.6km bike and 1km run - before tagging off to a teammate.

Kate was born and raised in Bloemfontein by her parents, Gerald and Karen, with her older brother, Gareth and twin sister, Tessa. She grew up in a closely-knit family and community and learnt at an early age the meaning of competition and determination.

At the age of 11 she started running and within her first year of competition gained her provincial colours for Cross Country. Kate ran and swam competitively throughout her school career and gained her provincial colours for Cross Country, Athletics (800m, 1500m and 3000m) Road Running (10km) Biathlon and also Swimming.

At the age of 15 she gained her National Protea colours for Biathlon and at the age of 17, Kate made the transition from biathlon into triathlon.

She matriculated at Eunice Girls’ School in 2001, and then studied for a BCom Human Resource Management degree at the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein.

She also competed in two Olympic Games, in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012. She reached a career-high of 7th place on the World Triathlon Circuit in 2010.

Roberts is now the National Head Coach and High-Performance manager for Triathlon South Africa. She also works as an Integral Life Coach, helping athletes transition from professional sports to life after.

Commonwealth silver medallist Roberts quits racing

November 10, 2014

Two-time Olympic triathlete Kate Roberts has officially called it quits on a successful 14-year career, writes Mark Etheridge.

The Bloemfontein-born three-phase ace represented Team South Africa at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics as well as the 2006 and 2014 Commonwealth Games and numerous world championship events.

Once ranked as the world’s seventh best women’s triathlete, won a silver medal in the team event for South Africa at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, earlier this year.

‘To be honest my retirement has been brewing for a long time now and I have realised that to carry on pursuing triathlon at ITU [International Triathlon Union] level requires 100% dedication and motivation and that my heart is not directly in it like it used to be,’ 31-year-old Roberts told Road to Rio 2016.‘It has also been a funding issue and unfortunately I don’t have the financial backing that is required to get to another Olympics. I also feel I desperately want more balance in my life now and since I have been home, I also realise there is a desperate need to develop the future of triathlon in South Africa, and if no one does this then the sport will have no more Olympians.

‘So there are a number of reasons but I am happy with my decision and know it is the right one.’The good news is that Roberts’ invaluable experience will not be lost on the next generation and the Pretoria based athlete will be ploughing back her invaluable knowledge gained on the global circuit.

She wrote on her website blog: ‘My goals for the future are to still remain in the sport and I am aim to start and run an Elite Junior Triathlon academy at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria.

‘This will be my way of giving back to the wonderful sport by developing future South African triathletes. I will endeavour to put the same energy, passion and commitment that I did into my professional triathlon career into my new venture. I will pass on all the many lessons and experiences I’ve learnt along my way and invest them into future triathlon stars.

‘My athletes will be between the ages of 13-20 and I will dedicate hands-on training sessions to them six days a week. I hope to be working with about 15 athletes, enabling me to give them 100% engagement and support, in order for them to be the best triathletes that they can be.’

She’ll work closely with national triathlon coach Lindsey Parry in Pretoria, alongside Team Jeep’s Max Cluer.
‘Very few people have the opportunity to spend 14 years of their life doing something that they truly love and upon reflection I can honestly say that I have been blessed with a greater career than I could ever have imagined. From an early age of nine years old, I had a clear dream to represent South Africa at an Olympics and I can proudly say that I made the most of the opportunities available to me and I gave absolutely everything to live this dream.

‘As an athlete and proud South African, the feeling of wearing my country’s colours was truly an amazing feeling and I will forever be proud to remember it.
‘My triathlon career certainly came with many highs and just as many lows but I believe that I always needed to fail in order to succeed and experience feeling truly satisfied when things did come together for an outstanding race. Being a professional triathlete certainly has defined me and made me who I am today but it is an end of an era and I am excited to be on a new and different journey. ‘

Roberts also took time out to thank those who were behind her success. ‘Firstly, I must thank my family. My parents, brother Gareth and twin sister Tessa for their encouragement and support throughout the years and for the example that they set for me. They taught me that all the hard work and sacrifices are worth it in the long run. I give thanks to all my past coaches. Simon Gray, my swimming coach from the age of nine, who instilled in me the discipline and work ethic to reach the levels that I did in my triathlon career. My running coaches JP Botha and DB Prinsloo, who made me love running so much. My triathlon coaches Libby Burrell who helped me reach my first Olympics in 2008 and Dr Darren Smith who worked with me from 2009 to 2013 and taught me all about the necessary sacrifices, dedication and what it took to be the best triathlete that I could be.

‘To Lindsey Parry and Wayne Riddin who helped me this past year in Pretoria and made my Commonwealth silver medal possible. Thank you for all playing your part in making my journey happen, I feel honoured to have worked under your guidance. And lastly to all of the wonderful life-long friends that I have made along the way, I thank you so much for your friendship, love and support.’

https://www.teamsa.co.za/commonwealth-silver-medallist-roberts-quits-racing/