Jasper Venter
Jan Albert Venter (also Jasper Venter) was born on 23 April 1988 in Hartenbos in the Western Cape. He attended the TuksSport High School from 2012-2016. Jasper was a coach at the Pecanwood College Aquatics in Hartbeespoort before taking up the role of head coach at Uniswim in Nelspruit between 2016-2023. Today he is the head swim coach at the Burley Griffin Swimming Club in Canberra, Australia.
At the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India, Jasper Venter won a bronze medal, as a member of the South African team, in the 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay. He also helped his team to claim the title in the same relay distance at the 2011 All-Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique, posting a meet record time of 7:33.63.
Venter qualified as a member of the South African team for the 4 × 200-metre freestyle relay at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, by placing third in the same distance as the national championships (1:50.60)
2008 Olympic Games finalist, 2009 World Championships finalist, 2010 Commonwealth Games medalist, 2011 World Championships finalist, 2011 All Africa Games medalist.
Pecanwood now a performance centre for swimming
January 10, 2014
Left: The proud team behind the imitative are from left Brandon Venter Head of Sport at PWC, Carla de Brito MIC PWC Swimming, Mike Farrer Senior Headmaster PWC, Dave Norman Project Consultant Swim SA and Jasper Venter PWC coach and ex-Olympic swimmer.
In what is considered a huge achievement, Pecanwood College has just been granted the status of a Swimming South Africa Performance Centre, one of only 11 schools in the country. Swim South Africa (SSA) and the College will take part in activities to identify swimmers with national and Olympic potential as well as academic talent, aged between 13 and 18 years for secondary school, and between 10 and 13 for primary school, to participate in this elite swimming programme that will be overseen by SSA national head coach, Dean Price. Not only will the elite swimmers benefit, but all swimmers at the school will be exposed to new coaching techniques, guest appearances by top coaches and an overall improvement of swimming at the College. The necessary academic and swimming infrastructures will be offered to the potential participants and ultimately, PWC will strive to improve the performances of SA swimmers through various initiatives. SSA will update and expose Pecanwood staff to practical, applied trends in swimming training methods, assist in the provision of coaches’ education and training and will support PWC endeavours to source funding and sponsors to assist on the infrastructure side
Swemsensasie deel sy kennis met ander
August 10, 2016
Voormalige Suid-Afrikaanse swemsensasie, Jasper Venter het ‘n een eenjaarkontrak by Uniswim Nelspruit as hoofafrigter, geteken. Venter het by die ervare, Detlef Schmitz wat sedert 2012 by Uniswim was, oorgeneem. Die 28-jarige was deel van die 2008 Beijing Olimpiese Spele en het net die kwalifiserende tyd vir die 2012 Londen Spele met ‘n sekonde gemis. Daarna het hy nog ‘n jaar kompeterend geswem, maar toe besluit om eerder self met die stophorlosie in sy hand langs die swembad te staan.
“Ek het meer as 16 jaar se ondervinding in die sport. Dit wat ek oor die jare geleer het kan ek nou in die swemmers terugploeg,” sê Venter.
Op die brose ouderdom van net 14 jaar, is Venter gekies om by die Universiteit van Pretoria se hoë prestasie-eenheid sy swemloopbaan voort te sit. Hier het hy onder Dirk Lange, wie tans die nasionale swemspan se afrigter is, geoefen. Met die oog op 2008, het die span na Seget in Hongarye getoer waar hulle ‘n oefenkamp saam met Sandor Ban, Cameron van der Burgh se afrigter, bygewoon het. Venter was in 2009 en 2011 na die wêreldkampioenskappe, waar hy vir die aflosspan en in die vryslagitem in aksie was. Die herinneringe van die 2010 Statebondspele in Delhi, Indië sal hy vir altyd koester.
“Ons aflosspan (Darian Townsend, Jean Basson en Sebastian Rossouw) het ‘n bronsmedalje verower en daardie dag sal ek nooit vergeet nie. Dit was ‘n baie spesiale oomblik – al die harde werk wat ek ingesit het, het afbetaal. Dit is ook belangrik dat die atlete van Uniswim besef wat dit vat om daar uit te kom.”
Hy het in Noordwes grootgeword waar hy 74 rekords in die provinsie in vlinder- en vryslag gebreek het. Tussen 2007 en 2011 het hy ook sy land by in die Mare Nostrum-reeks in Europa verteenwoordig. By die Afrikaspele in 2011, het hy met drie medaljes weggestap.
“Daar is ‘n hele paar swemmers by Uniswim wat groot potensiaal wys. Dit gaan harde werk vat om vir die nuwe seisoen voor te berei. Ek sien uit na die toekoms van swem in die Laeveld en ek wil die geleentheid met albei hande gryp.”
Venter is ‘n gekwalifiseerde vlak-een-afrigter van die Amerikaanse Swem Afrigting Vereniging en is besig om sy vlak twee en drie te voltooi.
Help this young star on her path to the Olympics
7 Jun 2019
Nelspruit swimming sensation, Brooklyn Croxon (15) is making waves. The grade nine Curro Nelspruit School pupil has her sights set high. She is affiliated with Uniswim and swims provincially for Mpumalanga. The young swimmer intends on making her mark in the world of championship swimming. She started doing it competitively at the age of 10 and said she has always been a keen athlete.
“At the age of 13, I was involved in other sports like athletics and netball, but swimming has always been my favourite sport and the one I excelled in.” Brooklyn recalled bagging her first gold medal at a small school gala at the age of 10, and said she knew then that this was where her passion lay. “I became determined to beat the competition and I started training harder.” Clearly driven by the need to succeed, she added that her biggest driver is the results of her hard work and being a role model for her peers. Her dream is to achieve more at the South African National Junior swim meet. The young swimmer admits that she has not always taken gold there and said she always tries to improve through hard work and a rigorous exercise regimen. Her coach, Jasper Venter, himself an Olympic swimmer, said in his seven years of coaching the sport, Brooklyn’s determination and sheer grit are a sight to behold. “She is a very good freestyle and breaststroke swimmer, and is possibly the best in the province and the country. “Brooklyn is very dedicated and hardly ever misses training. Her achievements in the pool show that it is not just talent, but the hard work she puts in behind the scenes which makes competing look easy for her.” The 50-, 100- and 200-metre breaststroke and freestyle specialist has bagged a considerable haul of medals in these distances and looks to add more to her cache.
This year, Brooklyn was selected to represent South Africa to compete in the European Swim City Competition in Bologne, Italy. The itinerary includes a trip to Pesaro where she and the other swimmers will participate in the Treviso Swim Cup on June 28 and 29. The swimmers will leave South Africa on June 18 and Brooklyn is the only Mpumalanga swimmer to have been selected. The tour will cost €1,340 and includes accommodation, meals, transport and all day visits to Venice. Additional costs like flights, spending money, gala entry fees and visa costs are not included and will have to be carried by the swimmers. In order to raise the funds required to send Brooklyn to Italy, the Croxon family are hosting a golf day on June 20 at the Matumi Golf Estate. Once she qualifies in Europe, the determined young swimmer will qualify to compete at the Olympics in Japan
