Atlantis Swimming Club: Lenasia's pride

DEDICATION AND HARD WORK

- DR ISMAIL VADI

THE Atlantis Swimming Club Team.

(Atlantis Swimming Club)

UNLIKE soccer and cricket, swimming is not a popular, mass-based sporting code in Lenasia. Nonetheless, historically it has been an important component in the community in the struggle for nonracial sports under the banner of the South African Council on Sport (Sacos).

In 1976, the Atlantis Swimming Club was founded locally by Yusuf “Joe” Cassim (chairman), Rafik Badat, Ashok Odhav and Shariffa Cassim (secretary), to provide coaching and competition opportunities for black swimmers from the wider Lenasia area.

The well-known Natal swimmer, Thambi Naicker, who was previously coached by veteran anti-apartheid campaigner, Sam Ramsamy, was appointed as the team coach.

Interestingly, the name of the club came from the then popular TV series, Man from Atlantis. Atlantis was a community club at the forefront of the campaign to promote nonracial swimming under the banner of Sacos, which followed the dictum, “No Normal Sport in an Abnormal Society”.

Atlantis Swimming Club was affiliated to the Southern Transvaal Amateur Swimming Association (Stasa) and was led by sport activist and teacher, Mike Davis.

Through Stasa it participated in numerous national and provincial nonracial swimming championships, including one held at the Orlando Swimming Pool in Soweto.

In those days, Sacos athletes stayed with family, friends and volunteer hosts from the schools and clubs in provinces.

This was a reciprocal relationship as the athletes competed in different centres across the country, and helped facilitate a bond and network of young swimmers, many who keep good relations to this day.

Atlantis endured the harsh realities of racial segregation and harassment under apartheid.

Many of its promising swimmers were denied some of the simple opportunities to excel in the sport.