GRAAFF-REINET NEWS — Seven multi-disciplinary athletes from Graaff-Reinet were selected to represent the Eastern Province at the 2017 SA Biathlon Championships held on April 7 and 8.

Biathlon is a challenging sporting discipline where competitors need to excel in more than one field. It consists of swimming and running and this popular sport is considered a true test of an all-rounder’s abilities.

Gerrit Brink from Union High School was also selected to captain the Eastern Province team, a great honour for him, his school and his hometown of Graaff-Reinet.

This year the SA Championships were held in Paarl and more than 600 athletes from all over South Africa congregated there.

Records were broken right from the start and the competition was considered the fiercest in many years. Despite a gusting wind, the running times were very good and the Graaff-Reinetters gave a great account of themselves.

Marlien Crewe- Brown, Llewellyn Crewe- Brown and Lizandri Crewe-Brown all ran their fastest times ever.The swimming leg was a little bit more of a challenge as the pool was cold and some of the swimmers had cut themselves on the tiles during turns.

Still, the swimmers from Graaff-Reinet swam well and got close to their personal bests with Hannes van der Merwe, Marlien Crewe- Brown and Gerrit Brink swimming new personal bests.

Lizandri Crewe- Brown (13th), Llewellyn Crewe- Brown (20th), Cameron Muir (16th) and Gerrit Brink (8th) all finished in the Top 20 of their respective age groups. Gerrit Brink finished 8th in the Men U.19 category - the many hours of hard work in practice had clearly paid off for all of these athletes.

The biathlon season kicks off again on September 1, 2017.

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