Pietermaritzburg – Some competition days simply stand out above the rest, and Day 3 of the 2026 TYR Prestige Tournament was certainly one of those as Seals Swimming Club produced an outstanding series of performances across the 200m Freestyle, 100m Backstroke and 50m Butterfly events.
The evening began in spectacular fashion with the Men’s 15yrs & Over 200m Freestyle, where Commonwealth Games representative Guy Brooks produced a stunning victory in 1:46.19. Fellow Seals swimmer and 17-year-old Rayhan Khonat continued his exceptional championships by finishing second in a massive personal best of 1:48.59. Seals’ strength and depth were on full display, with Lee Matthews and Everraud Raynard also competing in the A Final, while Julian Botha produced an outstanding swim to win the B Final and secure a top-10 finish overall. Seals finished the event with six swimmers across the A and B Finals, underlining the club’s dominance in one of the premier races of the evening.
The momentum continued in the age-group races. Fourteen-year-old Shiloh Cruywagen broke through the coveted 2:10 barrier for the first time, producing an outstanding personal best to win the Girls 13–14yrs 200m Freestyle. Long-time training partner Jothany Ngnotchouye also produced an excellent swim to finish fourth.
In the Boys 11–12yrs 200m Freestyle, Morgan Nixon claimed the silver medal with a superb personal best of 2:17.18. Training partners Caleb Potgieter and Akhona Zokwe were equally impressive. Potgieter continued his remarkable improvement, lowering his overall time by 6.11 seconds across the day, while Zokwe progressed from 10th seed in the heats to qualify for the final before lowering his time again to finish seventh.
The 200m Freestyle session concluded with another impressive performance from Nienke Boshoff, who finished second in the Girls 10yrs & Under final. Fellow nine-year-old Zachariah Gelderblom also showed excellent determination, improving from his morning heat with another personal best in the evening final.
Attention then shifted to the 100m Backstroke events, where Seals continued to deliver.
Fifteen-year-old Rachael Sheard, better known for her 200m backstroke, demonstrated her growing speed over the shorter distance by recording a personal best to claim second place in the Women’s 15yrs & Over final.
In the men’s race, Patrick Lamb finished fourth, while Matthew Marillier continued his consistent progress by recording another personal best as he edged ever closer to the elusive one-minute barrier.
There was more success in the Girls 13–14yrs event as Chloe Potgieter produced an outstanding swim to take the gold medal. In the Boys 13–14yrs competition, Ndalwenhle Mlambo delivered one of the day’s biggest improvements, lowering his time once again in the final to complete an overall five-second personal best across the day.
One of the standout performances of the entire session came from Jessica Francis in the Girls 11–12yrs 100m Backstroke. Seeded eighth, Francis slashed more than six seconds from her personal best in the heats before finding another 1.67 seconds in the final to surge to the silver medal, finishing just one second behind the winner.
The Boys 11–12yrs final produced more impressive results for Seals, with Jacob Van Zyl dropping 7.96 seconds in the final to finish fourth after beginning the day seeded seventh. Akhona Zokwe once again backed up his morning performance, improving by a further 2.16 seconds from heats to final to finish the day with an overall personal best improvement of 3.85 seconds.
The club’s backstroke campaign concluded with another excellent performance from Nienke Boshoff, who finished fourth in the Girls 10yrs & Under final while lowering her personal best by an impressive 6.50 seconds across the day.
The final events of the evening were the exciting 50m Butterfly races, where Rayhan Khonat once again showcased his versatility by finishing second only to Olympic medallist Chad le Clos. Khonat’s 24.67 was yet another personal best, underlining his outstanding all-round ability. He was joined in the final by fellow Seals swimmers Lee Matthews and Jeremiah George, giving the club three finalists in one of the evening’s showcase events.
In the Girls 13–14yrs 50m Butterfly, Shiloh Cruywagen and Chloe Potgieter added further medals to the Seals tally by finishing first and third respectively.
Kai MacMillan continued his excellent championships by contesting his second final of the evening in the Boys 13–14yrs 50m Butterfly, recording another personal best. Credit must also go to Durban Seals coach Reuben Schoeman, under whose guidance Kai continues to make impressive progress.
Just when it seemed the night had come to an end, Morgan Nixon provided one final highlight by claiming his fourth gold medal of the TYR Prestige Tournament. Nixon stormed to victory in the Boys 11–12yrs 50m Butterfly with another two-second personal best. Training partner Caleb Potgieter also completed an outstanding evening, contesting his second final of the night and recording his fifth personal best of the championships.
By the conclusion of the Day 3 finals, Seals Swimming Club had amassed 12 medals and more than 20 personal best performances for the night. From Commonwealth Games representatives to emerging age-group talent, the club once again demonstrated the depth, quality and culture that continues to make Seals one of South Africa’s leading high-performance swimming programmes lead by Wayne Riddin.
