Meet a lifesaving swimmer, enduro motorist, Olympic athlete, and high-achieving golf player living in our town.
We have so many high-achieving athletes living in Umhlanga who deserve their time in the limelight. We met four people who have achieved great things in their respective sports.
Age is truly just a number for Carryl van Bassen. At almost 60 years old, she is still doing what she loves, lifesaving. As a child, Carryl had remedial problems so she tried many different types of sports and fell in love with swimming. Her passion led her to get her South African Springbok Colours at 16 years old and a South Africa Sports Merit, awarded by the President himself. She is now part of the Umhlanga Rocks Lifesaving Club.
Carryl has furthered her love for the sport by participating in stillwater lifesaving and has won several titles. Last year, she competed in Italy at the Masters Lifesaving World Championship, winning one gold and two bronze medals. In March 2023, she competed in the South African Swimming Masters Championship in Nelspruit and won three gold medals. She also recently went to Cardiff, UK for the UK Lifesaving Masters Competition and won one gold and three silver.
Carryl won nine gold medals and broke two South African records in her age group in Gqeberha in March. She will head to Bruges in Belgium to compete in the EU stillwater lifesaving masters in September 2023 and then Australia next year.
Next, we have George Harvey. Originally from Zimbabwe, he has made a name for himself in the golfing world, with achievements such as receiving International Golf Team Colours in 1976, a World Best Ranked Amateur Golfer Award in 1976, nine amateur club championship wins (1972 to 1977), and the South African Golf Championship title in 1973 and 1976. George was a PGA Professional and is also an honorary life member of the PGA. He achieved the Advanced Fellow Category for the PGA and landed himself in the Hall of Fame in Cape Town.
And that’s not all George has accomplished! In 1974, he won the Rhodesian Open Championship, and, a year later, he won the World Paris Championship in Bogota, Columbia. George was also awarded PGA Teacher of the Year in 2009.
George’s passion led him to help others grow the sport. He designed the MECC driving range in 1999 and was even a commentator for the SA Open and PGA Championships from 1991 to 1995. He was also a coach/manager for the Ernie Els Foundation from 2009 to 2014, where he coached 16 Springbok Golfers.
The mind is a powerful tool, and once controlled and unlocked for optimal use, it can make you unstoppable. Meet Zakithi Nene, an Olympic 400-metre athlete. His journey begins in his hometown of Ladysmith. During school, he loved running and excelled in the sport. He broke the KZN 400-metre record at just 15 years old!
As a young kid, Zakithi’s role model was another great athlete at that time, Kirani James. “Kirani was a very young athlete making waves in the 400-metre sphere, and he won the Olympics at just 20 years old.” As Zakithi got older, his skills developed and he started looking up to Wayde van Niekerk. “I have never really been short of inspiration throughout my career.”
One of his biggest accomplishments is qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. His best season thus far has been in 2022, where he finished the year ranked ninth in the world. Zakithi also won the South African 400-metre national title in 2021 and competed in a 400-metre race where he ran a time of 45.74 seconds. Zakithi is still in his prime as a young athlete and continues to grow his career.
Enduro motorbiking isn’t for the faint-hearted. Alistair Feuilherade’s story began in matric when one of his friends got a bike. After some negotiations with his dad, he was given his first bike, a 2003 Yamaha YZ 250. After a few sessions around the track, Alistair thought he was ready for the mountains. “I quickly realised that riding enduro bikes through tough terrain required fitness, skill, and technique.” He knew he would have to constantly improve as a rider, but he loved the challenge.
Alistair started competing when he was 20 years old. He entered Roof of Africa 2008, which is the sport’s pinnacle event in South Africa. “I trained hard for it and finished third in Bronze Class. Once you finish the Bronze Class, you move on to the Silver Class, which he finished the following year. Alistar then had a new challenge: to complete the Gold Class. It took three attempts, but, in 2011, he crossed the finish line and proudly wore his gold medal.
Alistair then started his own business and a family, so riding took a back seat for a while. Two years ago, he decided to get back on the bike. “My most current greatest achievement is finishing last year’s Roof of Africa Gold Class.”
Umhlanga is definitely not short of incredibly talented athletes! We can’t wait to see what Carryl, George, Zakithi and Alistair do next.
Words: Kai Coates