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Fixtures and teams for the 2025 National Aquatics Festival

By Avuyile Sawula , in Water Sports | Featured Water Sports | News , at 2025-01-30 Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Clarendon High School for Girls is gearing up to host the 2025 edition of the National Aquatics Festival in East London.

The much-anticipated annual event kicks off on Friday, 31 January, and ends with the final of the water polo competition on Saturday, 1 February, at 13:40.

The action takes place at two venues: The Clarendon Harrison Aquatic Centre and Selborne College.

In attendance will be 10 strong water polo-playing schools, including last year’s champions, Durban Girls’ College (DGC), who defeated St Mary’s Waverley in a penalty shootout to win the title.

The KwaZulu-Natal outfit has been drawn in Pool A and will face the Clarendon, St Mary’s DSG Kloof, Our Lady of Fatima, also from Durban, and Rhenish Girls’ High, from Stellenbosch.

DGC heads into the tournament as one of the favourites to lift the title they claimed in Durban in 2024. They’ll be confident after a strong showing at last week’s Brian Baker Tournament, which was hosted by Kingswood College in Makhanda. There, DGC, despite not yet playing their best polo, finished eighth out of 20 teams.

Clarendon, led by coach Hannah Muller, was also in action at the Brian Baker Tournament and ended in 10th spot.

They defeated Rhenish 6-3 in their playoff match and, as the hosts of the National Aquatics Festival, will be eager to improve the showing of last year’s bronze medal-winning team.

St Mary’s DSG Kloof, Our Lady of Fatima, and Rhenish will also have designs on the silverware and could sprint a surprise or two.

Pool B features some heavyweights, including last year’s runner-up, St Mary’s Waverley. They’ll be up against Maris Stella, Gqeberha’s Collegiate Girls’ High, Clarendon’s second team, and St Stithians College, now led by coach Megan Sileno, who was in charge of St Anne’s last year.

Both of the Gauteng schools, St Mary’s and Saints contested the Brian Baker Tournament a week ago.

There, St Mary’s defeated Kingswood College 6-5 to finish in 11th, while Saints suffered a 4-5 loss against Reddam House Constantia in the bronze medal showdown.

Matches will run concurrently in both swimming pools, with the first games starting at 14:30 on Friday.

Apart from the water polo tournament, the festival also includes a swimming gala, with medals for juniors and seniors on the line.

SWIMMING

Gala Participants

Clarendon High School
C&N Sekondêre Meisieskool Oranje
Durban Girls’ College
Eunice High School
Our Lady of Fatima Dominican Convent School
Collegiate Girls’ High
St Mary’s DSG Kloof
St Mary’s Waverley
St Stithians College
Rhenish
Maris Stella

WATER POLO

Pool A: Clarendon High School for Girls, Durban Girls’ College, St Mary’s Kloof, Our Lady of Fatima Dominican Convent School, Rhenish Girls’ High School.

Pool B: St Mary’s Waverley, St Stithians College, Maris Stella, Collegiate Girls’ High School, Clarendon 2nds.

Fixtures

Friday, 31 January

Harrison Aquatic Centre

14:30 – Clarendon vs Our Lady of Fatima; 15:10 – Rhenish vs St Mary’s DSG Kloof; 15:50 – Durban Girls’ College vs Clarendon; 16:30 – Rhenish vs Our Lady of Fatima; 17:10 – Durban Girls’ College vs St Mary’s DSG Kloof; 17:50 – Clarendon vs Rhenish.

Selborne College

14:30 – St Stithians College vs Collegiate; 15:10 – Maris Stella vs St Mary’s Waverley; 15:50 – Collegiate vs Clarendon 2nds; 16:30 – St Mary’s Waverley vs St Stithians College; 17:10 – Maris Stella vs Collegiate; 17:50 – St Stithians College vs Clarendon 2nds.

Saturday 1 February

Harrison Aquatic Centre

07:00 – Our Lady Fatima vs Durban Girls’ College; 07:40 – Clarendon vs St Mary’s Kloof; 08:20 – Rhenish vs Durban Girls’ College; 09:00 – St Mary’s DSG  Kloof vs Our Lady of Fatima; 09:40 – Quarterfinal 1; 10:20 – Quarterfinal 2; 11:00 – 5th Pool A vs 5th Pool B.

Selborne College

07:00 – Clarendon 2nds vs St Mary’s Waverley; 07:40 – St Stithians College vs Maris Stella; 08:20 – Collegiate vs St Mary’s Waverley; 09:00 – Clarendon 2nds vs Maris Stella; 09:40 – Break; 11:00 – 4th Pool A vs 4th Pool B; 11:40 – Loser quarterfinal 1 vs Loser quarterfinal 2.

Play-offs

Harrison Aquatic Centre

11:40 – Semifinal (1st Pool A vs Winner of Quarterfinal 1); 12:20 – Semifinal 2 (1st Pool B vs Winner of Quarterfinal 2); 13:00 – 3rd/4th play-off; 13:40 – Final.

Avuyile Sawula
error: Sorry ol' chap, those shenanigans are not permissible.