The Madibaz placed fourth overall at the recent University Sports South Africa championship in Bloemfontein – but that is only half of the story.

 

While their overall position does not necessarily sound that impressive, the names of those ahead of them certainly are.

 

Tuks, who scored 1 396 points across the men’s and women’s sections, placed first. They were followed by Emeris (1 097), Maties (969) and the team from Gqeberha (658).

 

Looking at the men’s performances in isolation also makes for interesting reading as it mirrors the overall standings.

 

The Pretoria team took gold with 686 points, followed by Emeris (561), Stellenbosch (492) and Mandela University (359).

 

The Madibaz women finished seventh on 245 points, of which new senior national team member Katie Horne contributed 91 for the fourth-highest total by an individual. Catherine van Rensburg of Tuks topped the standings with 130.

 

Results are highly affected by the number of participants entered in any given event by a team as points are awarded to the top 16 finishers in each.

 

With a smaller squad (10 men and four women) than many of their opponents, each Madibaz swimmer is therefore “forced” to compete in the maximum allowed individual items of six.

 

In doing so, many compete in disciplines that are not necessarily their forte and picking up medals becomes difficult.

 

Relays, which count double, are even more important in the hoovering up of any available points.

 

With swimmers allowed to enter up to 14 races across the board, this scenario forces them to compete in as many of these as possible, effectively putting even more strain on smaller outfits.

 

Twenty-four-year-old management student Collins Saliboko led the charge on the men’s side with 76 points. He impressed in the 100m butterfly and freestyle events, placing fifth and sixth, respectively.

 

These performances saw him rank seventh among the men behind eventual winner Cameron Casali (103) of Emeris.

 

However, his personal highlight was the team’s unexpected rise towards the top.

 

“We didn’t expect to come fourth,” he admitted. “When they announced the final positions and our name still hadn’t been called after fifth place, everyone was cheering.”

 

The team poured their heart and soul into every event, he said.

 

“Some competed in longer races than they normally would because we wanted to score as many points as possible. We focused on giving our best team effort, especially in the relays.”

 

With fourth the new marker, there is nowhere else to go other than the podium.

 

“Next year we want to come back even stronger and maybe challenge for a team medal or even finish in the top three,” Saliboko said.

 

Having placed seventh in both 2024 and 2025, the Gqeberha-based squad made their impressive run through heart and shrewd tactical selections.

 

Manager Cheryl Kotze praised the team for pushing themselves beyond their comfort zone.

 

“Every swimmer was entered into the maximum six individual events, as well as all the relays,” she confirmed.

 

That meant that, for example, sprinters competed in distance events and freestylers in breaststroke races.

 

The Madibaz needed swimmers in every event and Kotze said everyone had put up their hands and did exactly what was asked of them.

 

She felt that the men’s numbers were at a good level and that another year of hard work could see them improve even more.

 

But the depth of the women will be the most important contributor to future team success.

 

“That will make a big difference to our overall competitiveness,” Kotze said.