Silver medallists South Africa's Chad le Clos, Roland Schoeman, Leith Shankland and Caydon Muller pose during the Men's 4x100m Freestyle relay medal ceremony at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre during the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on July 25, 2014.

Caydon Muller was born in Benoni in June 1995. He moved to Pretoria where he attended the TUKSsport High School.

Caydon won the bronze medal in the 4 x 100-metre medley relay at the 2013 World Junior Swimming Championships in Dubai. 

At the 2015 African Games in Brazzaville, Caydon won the gold medal in the 4 x 100-meter freestyle relay and the bronze medal in the 100-meter freestyle.

Personal best times

Young guns aim to beat old hands

8 February 2015

Caydon Muller was forced to quit athletics because he grew too fast, but as a swimmer the tall teen could be on the road to greatness.

Muller is one of a handful of young freestyle hopefuls who are being touted by national coach Graham Hill as future stars capable of stepping out of the shadows of Chad Le Clos and Cameron van der Burgh.

Pretoria-based Muller and the other young guns, notably Clayton Jimmie and Calvin Justus, both from Durban, have the potential to lift SA to Olympic medals in the men's 4x100m and 4x200m relays, says the mentor.

"If their progress carries on they could become world-beaters themselves," said Hill. "These guys are talented."

Muller, 19, has a personal best of 49.98sec for the 100m freestyle, a decent time for his age. "When you look at sprinters, most of the top guys are in their twenties," said Hill. "That speed comes from man-strength. I believe their strength will come. This season and next season a lot could change."

Muller intends beating the 48.99 qualifying time for the 2016 Olympics this season. To get to the world championships in Russia this year he needs to go 49.39.

"I want to focus on the 100m freestyle. The hundred is everything to me - the speed, the adrenaline."

Muller, who kicks off his season at Stellenbosch from Friday to Sunday in the first of a new two-gala grand prix series, last year anchored the SA 4x100m freestyle relay team to a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games alongside Le Clos, Roland Schoeman and Leith Shankland.

Muller, at 1.97m, went through a growth spurt in his early teens that caused problems to his feet, forcing him to give up athletics.

He switched to swimming and relentlessly pursued his other love, skateboarding.

"I used to do the half-pipe and those things, but I kept getting injured so my [swimming] coach told me to stop and sell everything."

Muller grew up in Boksburg and moved to the High Performance Centre academy in Pretoria during high school, matriculating in 2013.

Muller added butterfly to his repertoire to build his strength.

"I'm just doing it to improve my freestyle.

"I think we really could medal in the relay at the Olympics. We can bring back Athens [2004].

DURBAN,- APRIL 06 2017: Caydon Muller Men 100 LC Meter Freestyle during day 4 of the 2017 SA National Aquatic Championships at Kings Park Aquatic Centre on April 06, 2017 in Durban, South Africa.

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.