Liebenberg claims two USSA bronze medals as Wits Swimming Club looks to reclaim the glory
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The resurgence of the Wits Swimming Club
After a number of years not competing at the highest level, challenging other institutions at the high university sports level, the Wits Swimming club has been revived, which saw a valiant effort being put out by the swimmers at 2024 USSA championships.
There was plenty of excitement and nerves amongst the athletes competing, after the Wits Swimming club was re-established at the beginning of the year. The Wits swimmers certainly did the university and themselves proud, returning with a wealth of experience and some inspiring results.
The standout performer in the Wits team was third year medicine student, Suné Liebenberg, who returned with two bronze medals in the 50m and 100m Backstroke events. Liebenberg is no stranger to the pool, having started her swimming journey at 9 years old. She represented South Africa at the Junior African games, before taking a brief break after leaving high school. She returned to competitive swimming at the beginning of this year.
Upon her return from USSA, it was an honour to catch up with her and get her take on the Wits Swimming club going to the 2024 USSA competition.
“It was an amazing first experience to represent Wits University at a competition. We didn’t know what to expect going into USSA, it was an unknown territory for us but regardless the team spirit was incredible with team members providing maximum support to each other. This is definitely giving the swimming team motivation to keep training and improving for next year’s competition.”
Liebenberg then shared how the preparations went before the competition and how the team did not allow a few obstacles deter them from preparing for their first USSA appearance.
“Unfortunately, USSA was right after winter, and with swimming, it makes training conditions quite tough. We had a few hurdles to overcome, but we arranged for the USSA team to gym together in the mornings, build on our strength, and also made use of warmer afternoons to train in the Wits swimming pool. I also convinced private gyms such as Virgin Active to make use of their facilities for the few weeks leading up to USSA.”
Despite this year’s appearance being a first for the club, Liebenberg believes competing at competitions like the USSA’s can only bring positivity to the team.
“USSA is the perfect opportunity to experience the competitive environment and see that being a competitive student athlete is possible. It motivates swimmers and teams to keep showing up for training and other responsibilities, and it is also a great way to boost the morale of a team and bring that positive energy back to their respective university, and influence other students to participate.”
When asked about what it took for her to achieve the two bronze medals, Liebenberg spoke on the challenge of balancing her academic and swimming commitments, with her dedication and hard work fortunately paying off in the end.
“Studying medicine and swimming has been a challenge. I took a 3-year break after I matriculated and only started my training journey earlier this year. It took a lot of dedication and hard work to balance the two, but thankfully the commitment paid off.”
Liebenberg now dreams of seeing the Wits swimming club grow and expressed what can be expected from the club going into 2025.
“We want to attract more students by hosting local events and fun activities for the upcoming year. We will also keep on sending a team for national university events such as USSA.”
