With a love for the open waters and a passion for swimming, competitive swimmer, and lifeguard, Amica de Jager (23) from St Francis Bay, will be competing in at least two international swimming competitions this year, which will provide her with invaluable experience in preparation for the 2024 Olympic Games.
Her love for swimming developed when she first began swimming lessons at a young age which since then has grown to become an integral part of her life and has seen her swimming competitively since she was eight years old.
“I absolutely love being in the water and the weightless feeling of moving through it. I love the silence of being in my own aquatic world – just me, my thoughts, and my own body’s capabilities,” said De Jager.
In 2016, she qualified as a lifeguard and each summer season she has volunteered as a lifeguard at Cape St Francis beach.
However, before qualifying as a lifeguard six years ago, she was a nipper and later a junior lifeguard.
For the last 15 years, she has continued to swim competitively, but it was only at the age of 18 that she began swimming in both national and international swimming competitions.
In 2016 she participated in the World Lifesaving Championships and in the same year she competed at the Orange Cup.
The following year she participated in three competitions which included the LEN Open Water Swimming Cup, Commonwealth Festival of Lifesaving, and the International Surf Rescue Challenge.
In 2018 she participated in the Senior Africa Swimming Champs and the Sanyo Cup while in 2019 she competed in the Sanyo Cup once again.
Furthermore, in 2019, she participated in the FINA Marathon Swim World Cup and the International Surf Rescue Challenge.
At this year’s South Africa Open Water Swimming Nationals with hard work and dedication she won the women’s 10km, earning her the title of the SA Female Open Water Champion, which is a title previously held by two-time Olympian, Michelle Weber, and she was placed second in the women’s 5km race.
With these two achievements she has earned a spot at the World Championships this year for both the 5km and 10km races.
De Jager said that her biggest dream was to participate in the 2024 Olympic Games which she is currently working towards.
“The Olympic Games is the highest level achievable and the most prestigious of sporting stages. It has been a dream of mine to participate in the Olympic Games since the beginning of my swimming journey and I aim to give it my all,” said De Jager.
Between June 26 and 29 she will be participating in the 19th FINA World Championships in Hungary, which is a gathering of the world’s best athletes across six different aquatic sporting disciplines which include swimming, open water swimming, water polo, diving, high diving, and artistic swimming.
In addition, she will be competing in the Lifesaving World Championships, which will take place from September 20 to October 9 in Italy, where she will be partaking in the still water lifesaving event and the surf lifesaving events.
She said that the FINA World Championships will provide her with invaluable experience and will prepare her for the 20th FINA World Championships which will take place next year and will serve as a qualifying event for the 2024 Olympic Games.
She said that when she participated in the women’s 10km race at the South Africa Open Water Swimming Nationals last year the top two were selected to compete at the FINA Olympic Marathon Swim Qualifier 2021; although she finished in a close third place it meant that her dream of participating in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games was unlikely.
“I came extremely close last year, and it has only further ignited my hunger to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games,” said De Jager.
To continue working towards her dream of participating in the 2024 Olympic Games she will need to participate in the 19th FINA World Championships and the Lifesaving World Championships.
However, she needs the public’s support to raise funds for her two international trips this year.
Sponsors can donate to her cause by visiting the link to her Back a Buddy campaign https://www.backabuddy.co.za/amica-de-jager.
“I would ultimately love to compete on the FINA Marathon Swimming World Cup circuit, which would provide me with invaluable experience and exposure on the world stage, but I will need to find a sponsorship first,” said De Jager.
- For more information email Amica De Jager on amicadejager@gmail.com.
