Jacobus Coenradus de Beer "Jackie" Wiid was born on the 19th April 1929.

He was a backstroke swimmer who won a gold medal in the 100m event at the 1950 Commonwealth Games in Auckland. In the 100m freestyle, he finished 5th.

Jackie also competed at the 1948 London Olympic Games where he finished 6th. 

Sydney Morning Herald - 11th February, 1950.

Big Jack Wiid would never have won the Empire Games 110 yards backstroke in record time to-day, but for failing in his school exams three years ago.

Wiid was chosen to represent Northern transvaal in the South African swimming championships in 1946, but his father refused to let him him accept because he failed in his examinations.

Wiid said:"I was upset at that, and made up my mind to pass the next year. I did, and went on to the championships. I won the backstroke title."

Wiid is now the South African backstroke and freestyle  sprint champion. He is only 20, and instructs police in swimming in Pretoria.

Wiid's time of 1:07,7 was 0,2 seconds fater than the old record. It was his fastest and hardest swim

Hendrik grew up in Stellenbosch where matriculated at Paul Roos Gymnasium in 1998 and swam for the University of Stellenbosch Club Team coached by Pierre de Roubaix. His career swimming highlight was winning a silver medal at the 2002 Commonwealth Games as part of the South African 4 x 100 freestyle relay. 

At the 2000 U.S. Open Swimming Championships Hendrik finished fifth in the finals of the 50-meter freestyle, touching the wall in 23.79.

He took up a scholarship at the University of Florida in 2005 where he helped the Gators finish 4th overall at the national championships in his final year.  

He spent four years studying towards a BSc degree in Exercise Physiology which laid the groundwork for his future studies in medicine. On his return to South Africa, he studied Medicine at Stellenbosch University and graduated in 2008.

Hendrik recently moved to Australia after spending the past 10 years working in Canada as a rural GP, emergency room doctor and GP anaesthetist. He obtained the Certification in the College of Family Physicians in Canada and was awarded the Licentiate of the Medical Council of Canada. A generalist at heart, he enjoys seeing a diversity of patients and practices evidence-based medicine.  He enjoys being active outside and is thrilled to now call the beautiful Mid-North Coast home.

He is married to Dr Lindie Verster, a family doctor who also works at LCMC. They are the proud parents of two energetic young boys.

University of Florida

UF All-Time Rankings: Sixth in Gator school history as relay member of 200-free relay (1:19.43) and eighth as member of 400 free relay (2:54.92).

National/International Competition: Finished fifth in the finals of the 50-meter freestyle, touching the wall in 23.79 at the 2000 U.S. Open...placed ninth in 100-meter free at the 1998 South African Senior Nationals in a personal-best time of 52.70...took 10th at the same meet in the 50 free in another personal-best (24.12)...South African record-holder in the 14- and 15-year old age group in the 100-meter free...additionally, holds Western Province Records for 17-18 age group in the 50- and 100 free.

2000-2001: Part of the 6th place 400-yard freestyle relay team (2:54.05), and the 7th place 200-yard freestyle relay team (1:18.70) at the 2001 NCAA Championships...Part of the third place 200-yard medley relay team (1:27.95) and the second place 200-yard free relay (1:18.62) at the 2001 SEC Championships...was part of the second place 400-yard freestyle relay team that clocked in at 3:03.32 against Tennessee... placed third in the 50-yard free at the Florida Atlantic/Indian River tri-meet...was third in the 200-yard free at TCU with a time of 1:45.25...was on the first place 200-yard freestyle relay team at the Auburn/Arizona State tri-meet with a time of 1:22.05...placed fifth in the 50-yard freestyle at Florida State with a time of 21.52... placed fourth in both the 50-yard freestyle (21.67) and the 100-yard free (47.00) versus Michigan...placed seventh in the 100-yard freestyle at the SEC Eastern Division Dual Meet Extravaganza with a time of 47.31...was a member of the fourth-place 400-yard medley relay team and the fifth-place 400-yard free relay team at the Extravaganza...was part of 400-yard free relay team that placed first at Alabama with a team total of 3:09.05...placed second in the 100-yard freestyle (47.47) and fourth in the 50-yard freestyle (21.70) at the same meet.

1999-2000: At NCAA Championships, he was the third leg of the 400m free relay team that qualified for the consolation finals with a time of 3:16.98, finishing 12th...placed 56th in 100m free preliminaries with a time of 50.46...had UF's third-best time and personal best in 100 free (44.82 at SECs), provisionally qualifying for NCAAs...third leg of UF's 400 free relay team that automatically qualified at SECs, touching the wall in 2:54.92...placed third in 100 free against Miami and Indian River...also placed third in 200 free at Oakland...named to SEC Academic Honor Roll.

1998-99: Earned Honorable Mention All-American honors at the NCAA Championships, as member of UF's 14-place 200- and 400 free relay teams...at the SEC Championships, placed 23rd in the 100 free, touching in 45.41...took 24th in the 50 free (20.83)...finished 19th in the 200 free (1:41.19)...additionally at SECs, was a member of the 200 free relay which finished fourth in 1:20.44...during the season, advanced to NCAAs with 200 free relay foursome which clocked season-best time at Auburn Invitational, finishing in 1:19.43 which stands as fifth-best in Gator record books...clocked career-best in the 50 free (20.37rs) versus Indian River...also had career best in the 100 free (45.06) against Indian River.

High School: 1998 graduate of Paul Roos Gymnasium...swam at club level in South Africa for University of Stellenbosch under Pierre de Roubaix.

Club: Swims for the University of Stellenbosch Club Team... is coached by Pierre de Roubaix.

Major: Exercise Physiology.

Karina Helene Muller

Helene hails from Potchefstroom, and swam with coach Kobie Louw in Sasolburg. Helen won a scholarship to swim at the University of Nebraska. While studying in the United States, Muller swam for the Nebraska Cornhuskers swimming and diving team, under head coach Cal Bentz, and Sprint coach Keith Moore.

At the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England, Muller captured two silver medals each in the 100 m freestyle (55.60), and in the 4×100 m medley relay (4:05.06), along with Mandy Loots, Sarah Poewe, and Charlene Wittstock.

Helene made her first South African team, as an eighteen-year-old, at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. There, she finished thirty-third in the 100 m freestyle (57.98), and thirtieth in the 200 m freestyle (2:05.59). In the 4×100 m medley relay, Muller, along with Marianne Kriel, Penny Heyns, and Mandy Loots, finished fourth with a time of 4:08.16. At the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games Helene swum in 4 events, finishing 6th in the 100m freestyle in a new Africa record of 55,19. Later she swam anchor in the 4x100m freestyle relay in a time of 54,77, as the South African team finished in 5th place. 

"I'm so happy I made the final and I'm very happy I with my times. Who would have thought? Helene Muller, boerkind from Potchefstroom," laughed the University of Nebraska-based student, who will compete in the 50m freestyle and 4x100m medley relay heats on Friday. 

At Nebraska she lettered from 1997 to 2000, garnering All-America honors for the Huskers 15 times, including a bronze medal in the 200-meter freestyle at the 2000 NCAA Championships.

Today Helene is a medical doctor.

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - AUGUST 4: (Special Fee Applies. Call for pricing) (L-R) Charlene Wittstock, Sarah Poewe, Mandy Loots and Helene Muller of South Africa win the silver medal in the Women's 4x100 Medley Final at the Manchester Aquatics centre during the 2002 Commonwealth Games on August 4, 2002.

• 1996 Atlanta Olympics: 4^th 400 medley relay (freestyle leg)
• 3^rd 200 free & 5^th in the 100 free at the 2000 NCAA Championships
• 2000 Sydney Olympic games: 5^th in 100 free, 9^th in the 200 free
• 2001 Champion in the 200 free at US Nationals
• 2^nd in the 100 & 200 free at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England

South African Olympian finds Valley's water appealing

Feb. 23, 2003

If you ask Olympic swimmer Helene Muller how she got from her native South Africa to the Valley, she'll turn her head to the side, arch her eyebrows and say, "Well, you know I didn't come straight here."

Muller's path led around the world to international swim meets, including the Olympics in Atlanta and Sydney.

It led through Nebraska, where she went to college and met her best friend, who happened to be from Fawn.

Through her college years, when Muller couldn't fly half-way around the world to be home for holidays, she spent those vacations with Beth Karaica's family here.

So, after graduating from college and retiring from swimming, Muller moved to Murrysville to be near her closest American friends. Now, she's also happy to be near her boyfriend, Tarentum native Mark Rovnan.

And though she's retired from competition, Muller can't leave swimming behind entirely. These days, she works out with the Highlands High School swim team, which she is helping coach this year.

Growing up in Johannesburg, Muller said she fell in love with swimming at a young age.

"Everyone in South Africa has a swimming pool because it's hot," she said.

At age 5, Muller's mother made her learn to swim. At 6, she was on a swim team.

By 13, Muller was competing in her first international meet.

"I was crazy for swimming," Muller said. "If my mother was late taking me to practice, I'd get on my bike and pedal, like, four kilometers to get there."

Before retiring last summer, Muller swam the 50, 100 and 200 yard freestyle.

She represented South Africa in the Olympics in 1996 and 2000.

By 2002, however, Muller said she'd had enough of the intense time and training that world-class swimming demanded. After finishing her last race at the Commonwealth Games in England last summer, Muller said she burst into tears of relief and announced her retirement.

Though she was raised during apartheid, Muller said she was largely unaware of her country's deep racial divide, or its pariah image around the world.

"I grew up in apartheid, but I didn't know it," Muller said. "I have very liberal parents and I didn't know there was a difference (in South Africa) between black and white."

Living in the United States and reading books about Africa as an adult have given Muller a new perspective on many things she was taught in her all-white schools as a child. Text books in South Africa reflected the government's propaganda of the time, Muller said.

"I realize how indoctrinated I was a child," she said.

She said she occasionally gets negative reactions from Americans who associate white South Africans only with apartheid. Though it can be hard, Muller said she's learned to shrug off rude comments.

That the Valley might find her exotic seems lost on Muller as she coaches Highlands swimmers with the affectionate growls of a devoted drill instructor.

Muller said Americans frequently mistake her accent for Swedish, German or Norwegian, which makes her laugh.

It's the Valley that has a slightly exotic feel, she insists. Though she's not crazy about Northern Hemisphere winter weather, Muller said the Valley's beautiful rivers and green landscape are a nice contrast to mostly arid South Africa.

She also enjoys some American sports.

"I'm a very big Penguins fan," Muller said. "Hockey is fun to watch because it's continuous -- it keeps going."

American football and baseball are too slow to hold her attention.

But when she went with friends to watch the Pirates play the Cubs last summer, Muller said she couldn't get over the excitement of seeing Sammy Sosa close up.

"I just kept saying, 'Guys! It's Sammy Sosa! Right there!" Muller said, giggling.

Though she's enjoying her American life, Muller said she does miss her family in South Africa and likely will one day go home.

"It's very hard. I'm very tight with my family," she said. "I think, deep down, they want me to go home."

Post-apartheid South Africa is burdened with a new set of problems, Muller said. The economy is poor, which is one reason she decided to stay in the U.S. after graduation.

The country, like most of Africa, is suffering under a staggering pandemic of AIDS.

Muller received dual degrees in biological sciences and psychology, hoping to pursue a medical career.

She's working now as a nurse's aide at Alle-Kiski Medical Center in Harrison and hoping to be accepted at physician's assistant school.

Someday, she said she'd like to help AIDS patients in her home country.

"It's heartbreaking," she said.

Muller said she's disheartened by how little Americans and Europeans understand about the devastating effect of AIDS in African countries.

Health experts estimate as many as a quarter of all people in South Africa are infected with HIV or have AIDS -- a fact that she said most Americans as surprised to hear.

"I want to do something to help all the people with AIDS," Muller said. "That's a passion of mine, and I hope someday I can make a difference."

https://archive.triblive.com/news/south-african-olympian-finds-valleys-water-appealing/ 

9th October 2010: (L-R) Medalists Heerden Herman of South Africa (Bronze), Ryan Cochrane of Canada (Gold) and Daniel Fogg of England (Bronze) pose during the medal ceremony for the Men's 1500m Freestyle Final at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India.

Heerden was born in Pretoria on December 20, 1990, although he matriculated from Paul Roos Gymnasium in Stellenbosch in 2008, and completed a BComm degree cum laude at Stellenbosch University in 2013. He was named Maties Sportsman of the Year three years in a row.

Heerden was another Rhodes Scholar -  awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to study at Oxford University, where he completed a Master's degree in African studies and an MBA by 2016.

In 2008 het hy goud gewen in die 800 meter-vryslag by FINA se junior-wêreldkampioenskappe te Monterrey, Mexiko. By die 2010 Statebondspele in Indië het hy die silwermedalje in die 1500 metervryslag losgeswem en as lid van die 4x200 meter-vryslagaflosspan ook ’n bronsmedalje ontvang.

In 2012 was hy een van net ’n handvol swemmers wat vir meer as een swemnommer by die Londense Olimpiese Spele gekwalifiseer het, naamlik vir die 400 én 1500 meter-vryslag. Hy het ná die Spele uitgetree om op sy Rhodes-beursstudie by Oxford te konsentreer. Hy is terloops ook die eerste Matie wat die Universiteit se Sportman van die Jaar-toekenning drie keer namekaar ontvang het.

SA's Herman wins 1 500m silver

New Delhi - Ryan Cochrane on Saturday added the 1 500m freestyle gold to his 400m freestyle win to give Canada its second double gold of the day at the Commonwealth Games on Saturday.

The 21-year-old swam in front virtually the whole way and finished in 15:01.49. The leading chaser, South Africa's Heerden Herman, won silver, with England's Daniel Fogg winning the battle of the rest for bronze.

The event has been dominated over the years by Australia and Cochrane - the Olympic bronze medallist - was well outside Kieren Perkins' Games best of 14:41.66 and Grant Hackett's world record time of 14:34.56.

Heerden Herman at Stellenbosch University, and swimming for the Oxford University Swimming Club.

Varsity 2015 was held in Cambridge on February 2015. Oxford were once again victorious in the men’s, women’s and overall trophies.

Heerden Herman was the recipient of the prestigious ‘Swimmer of the Meet’ award for his performance in the 400m Freestyle.

The unseen Olympics: teamwork, trust, and distributed leadership / Blog / The Oxford Character Project

Aug 16, 2021