2021 Artistic Swimming Duet National Champions, Laura Strugnell and Clarissa Johnston, are aiming to set South Africa’s highest score in the sport and pave the way to keep Mzansi’s Artistic Swimming a permanent feature at the Summer Olympics.
The duo will represent the country in Tokyo for the first time since SA competed at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, competing against Australia, Russia and the USA.
Speaking to gsport, Strugnell and Johnston, revealed: “Right now our goal is to share that we’re bringing SA back to the Olympics for the first time in 29 years and we want to inspire young girls to chase their goals, even if they don’t have anyone in their sport that has gone to the Olympics yet for their country. Anything is possible!”
It has been a gruelling 16-month journey for the ladies, coming out of retirement, balancing full-time jobs with training, spending hundreds of hours in outdoor pools in winter – doing all of this through COVID-19, postponed competitions, health obstacles and innovating with Zoom coaching and training.
Their perseverance and dedication to their craft has not gone unnoticed as the public have supported their backabuddy campaign to raise funds for their trip to Tokyo.
The duo pledged that any excess funds from donations will be put towards the development of swimming clinics as part of a post-Olympics roadshow across South Africa.
Photo 1 Caption: 2021 Artistic Swimming Duet National Champions, Laura Strugnell and Clarissa Johnston, are aiming to set South Africa’s highest score in the sport and pave the way to keep Mzansi’s Artistic Swimming a permanent feature at the Summer Olympics. Photo: artsswimduet_rsa (Instagram)
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