Olympic Heroes Return Home

On Wednesday 15 August, the excitement in the air was tangible as a crowd of 1 500 people comprising pupils, teachers and coaches waited for the much anticipated return of their hero, Chad le Clos, together with his father, Bert, and his coach and fellow Westville Old Boy, Graham Hill.

Chad entered the auditorium to the resounding chant of “Gold for Chad” and was presented with a framed copy of the front page of the newspaper reflecting his victory over Michael Phelps by the Mercury Editor, Philani Mgwaba. Dave Guselli of East Coast Radio conducted a fun and interactive interview with Chad, Graham and Bert and the special assembly was then concluded with the traditional school war cry, led by Chad.

For the record, Chad created history for the School, being the only South African to return with two Olympic medals. His Gold medal was achieved in the 200m Individual Medley, beating Olympic legend, Michael Phelps in a pulsating race. He followed this up with a Silver medal in the 400m Individual Medley, coming from behind to be placed joint second behind Phelps.  The gates of WBHS were painted Gold in honour of his incredible achievements.

At assembly in the following week the School honoured the other two old boys who were chosen for the 2012 Olympic Games, Charl van Zyl Crous and Leith Shankland.

 Charl van Zyl Crous was Captain of Swimming at WBHS in 2009. He is the current All African Record Holder for the200 meters Backstroke and won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in 2010 swimming the backstroke leg of the 4×100 medley relay. He competed at the Olympics in the  100 metres and 200 metres backstroke sprints and was also as member of the 4×100 Medley Relay.

 Leith Shankland was vice captain of the 2009 WBHS swimming team. He is also a multi-disciplinary  swimmer who has represented his country at every different age group level. He is currently one of the fastest freestyle swimmers in the country competed in the 4x100m medley relay.

The School is extremely certainly proud of its three old boys in the SA relay team and we wish them well in their bids for medals at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janiero.