Team South Africa sends four swimmers to World Para Swimming Championships

Team South Africa will be sending four swimmers to the Toyota World Para Swimming Championships in Singapore. The swimmers are Alani Ferreira, Christian Sadie, Danika Vyncke, and Nathan Hendricks.

The World Para Swimming Championships, happening from September 21 to 27, mark the first time the World Championships are held in Asia.

TEAM SA SWIMMERS

ALANI FERREIRA

Alani Ferreira competes in the SB12 category for swimmers with a visual impairment. Some cannot see the black line on the bottom of the pool but can see the end of the lane from one meter away.

The athlete swam at her first Paralympic Games in 2016 and won her first World Champs medal at the 2023 Para Swimming World Championships in Manchester, a bronze. She’s represented South Africa at the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games, 2019 London World Para Swimming Championships, 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games, and 2022 Madeira World Para Swimming Championships.

CHRISTIAN SADIE

Christian Sadie swims in the S7 category, for swimmers with movement affected from a low to moderate level in the arms, trunk, and legs, moderately down one side, those with short stature, or the absence of limbs.

He has radial club hands, a condition where his radius bone is either missing or underdeveloped, causing his hands to be bent towards his body. In his case, it is missing, and this means he has shorter forearms.

He represented South Africa at the Tokyo Paralympics, won a silver medal at the World Para Swimming Championships in Madeira, Portugal, and also won a silver at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast in 2018. At the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games, he broke three African records.

DANIKA VYNCKE

Danika Vyncke has a visual condition known as Stargardt Disease, which affects the central vision of humans.

The SB13 swimmer has competed at four international competitions: two World Series in France and Egypt, the World Championship in Manchester, and the European Open Championship. Vyncke has Stargardt retinal dystrophy, an inherited disorder that usually causes vision loss in childhood or adolescence.

NATHAN HENDRICKS

Nathan Hendricks made his Paralympic debut at the 2024 Paris Games, where he was in action in four finals. At 18 years old at the time, the S13 swimmer from Middelburg, Mpumalanga, was one of the youngest Team SA members in Paris.

S13 means athletes have the least severe vision impairment eligible for Paralympic sports. They have the highest visual acuity and/or a visual field of less than 20 degrees radius.

He was diagnosed with diabetes as a baby and then diagnosed with Stargardt disease, a genetic eye disorder that causes progressive vision loss, mainly affecting central vision, at the age of 12. Hendricks won the 2022 Para Swimmer of the Year Award at the Mpumalanga Swimming Awards.