Clifton Lifesaving Club’s Samuel Booysen is officially the fastest man on sand in South Africa in 2023.
Booysen blitzed the field on the opening day of the DHL Lifesaving South Africa National Club Championships in Gqeberha, winning all his heats en route to an emphatic victory in the final.
The men’s open sprint final is among the marquee events at any lifesaving competition, and in South Africa, the name Ryle de Morny has traditionally been the big winner over the last decade.
De Morny is not competing at this year’s nationals, and Booysen’s triumph could signal that the sprint baton change has finally happened.
Booysen beat Milnerton’s Ariel Mausenbaan into second place, with Summerstrand’s Nicholas Peter Kingston completing the podium.
Booysen is also the favourite to win the flags, having won them at the 2022 World Championship in Italy. He also finished fourth in the world championship sprint.
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King’s Beach once again played host to the opening day, with the juniors and open divisions enjoying the sunshine, sand and surf. The Nippers competition starts today (Friday) with the pool specialists at Newton Park.
More than 1 500 athletes from 34 clubs are participating in what is South Africa’s biggest lifesaving sporting event of the year. It is also among the most popular events for locals, as the City’s best nippers, juniors and seniors always feature prominently among the medal winners.
Clubs from KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape are prominent across all the age groups and race divisions, and one of the most popular wins on Thursday came in the Female Open Beach relay, which was largely a Challenor family affair. Mother Jenna and daughters Nicolette and Rylee-Lai combined with Jade Brown to take gold for Umhlanga Rocks.
The Challenor daughters and Brown then combined with Danae Botha to win the Female Junior Beach relay.
Lifesaving and winning are in the Challenor genes, with her father and husband, Brett, a former world champion.
Clifton, Fish Hoek, Umhlanga and Llandudno, as clubs, set the pace in an ever-changing club leaderboard, with Umhlanga enjoying the most first places.
Umhlanga’s Sasha-Lee Nordengen Corris won the coveted Open Iron title, with Tannah Smith of the Pirates in second and Fish Hoek’s Waris Mills in third place.
Nordengen Corris, among the many South African internationals competing, is a regular winner, be it at club, provincial, national or international events, and her performance was a standout among the many familiar faces on show.
South Africa’s queen of the sand, Mandi Augustyn (formerly Maritz), made a welcome appearance and won gold in the Beach Flags.
Augustyn saw off the challenge of Umhlanga’s Jade Brown and Nicolette Challenor.
Fish Hoek’s Georgie Singe won the female Open Single Surf Ski event, with Umhlanga’s Michelle Burn second and Saskia Hockly third.
The lifesaving spectacle, which features the best of the best, finishes on Wednesday, 5 April.
*For all the results visit https://liveheats.com
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Picture: Supplied
Words: Mark Keohane