Carissa in a swimmingly great mood at the 2015 African Junior Champs
Carissa van Rooyen, a Grade seven pupil from the St Dominic’s Catholic School for Girls, was definitely in the swim of things when she won four gold medals at the 2015 African Junior Championships held in Cairo, Egypt, from October 17 to 20.
This young swimmer made the country proud in her first outing on the international swimming circuit.
The African Junior Championships 2015, one of the largest events on the continent for elite junior swimmers, attracted participants from 18 African countries.
Carissa participated in the Group One events for girls aged 13 and 14 years and achieved these results:
* 100m backstroke – gold
* 50m backstroke – gold
* 50m freestyle – bronze (gold was taken by the only other 13-year-old South African in this final, Rebecca Meder)
* 4 x100m freestyle relay – gold and African record. The relay team is Carissa, Hannim Abrahams (13), Dune Coetzee (13) and Rebecca Meder (13).
* 4 x 100m medley relay – gold and African record with the same relay team.
Carissa’s efforts also won her the third overall place in Group One.
The first two places were taken up by Carissa’s SA team mates, Rebecca Meder and Hannim Abrahams.
Brilliant battles were fought in the pool and Carissa returned with even greater motivation to succeed in her swimming career.
“The African Junior Championships 2015 was a very nice experience,” said Carissa.
“It’s a very different level to what you’re used to at local galas, as your competitors are more experienced. You also have to manage on your own and psych yourself for the race, because there you’re not spoon fed.”
Her competitive swimming career started at age 10 and since then Carissa has achieved many successes.
From May this year, Carissa has been training with Dean Price at Mandeville Dolphins.
Carissa’s next big goal is the Commonwealth Games in 2018, followed by the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
According to her mother, Liezel van Rooyen, Carissa is very focused and disciplined and understands the importance of hard work.
“She also knows that her academics is the first priority and she gives it the attention it deserves and subsequently excels in this as well,” said Van Rooyen. – @IschkeBoksburg
