Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Categories
UFS News Media Release Research
Years
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Months
January February March April May June July August September October November December
Previous Archive
10 June 2019 | Story Ruan Bruwer | Photo Gerda Steyn Twitter
Gerda Steyn
Gerda Steyn, a former student at the University of the Free State, won her first Comrades race on Sunday, setting a new course record.
Winning the Comrades ultra-marathon is the greatest honour of her life and still feels unreal, said Gerda Steyn a day after winning the race in a record time.
 
The former Kovsie student had an incredible race on Sunday, completing the 86,83 km’s in a time of 05:58:54, which is a new record for women in the up run. It is more than 10 minutes faster than the previous record of 06:09:23 set in 2006.
 
It was also the fourth fastest Comrades time ever by a female in the 94-year history of the race.
 
Greatest honour of my life
 
“Being the Comrades winner is the greatest honour of my life. Thank you to an entire nation for carrying me to the line. It feels like a dream,” Steyn said.
 
The 29-year-old Steyn became the first woman in 30 years to win both the Comrades and Two Oceans in the same year. She also won the Two Oceans in 2018 and came second in the Comrades last year.
 
Steyn, who studied Quantity Surveying and Construction Management at the University of the Free State (UFS) between 2009 and 2012, said the record time was discussed beforehand.
 
I went for it
 
“We felt it was possible, but it wasn’t my main goal right from the start of the race. At the halfway mark, I saw it was possible and I went for it.”
 
According to Steyn, the media attention since her win is quite intense. “But I don’t complain. It is such an honour, so I do it with a smile.”
 
At the Two Oceans ultra-marathon in April, she missed out on the 30-year record time by just 53 seconds.
 
Prof Francis Petersen, UFS Rector and Vice-Chancellor, said Steyn was a proud ambassador of the university. “It is always important for me to see how our former students perform. I would like to congratulate her. Well done. She is carrying the Kovsie name with pride,” Prof Petersen said.
 

News Archive

Prof. Johan Grobbelaar part of history
2010-09-23

Prof. Johan Grobbelaar from the Department of Plant Sciences at the recent 31st Congress of the International Limnological Society (SIL), which was held in Cape Town.
Photo: Supplied

The 31st Congress of the International Limnological Society (SIL) was recently held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC).

Prof. Johan Grobbelaar from the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS), who is also the chairperson of the local organising committee (LOC), worked hard for six years to secure the bid to host the congress in South Africa. The LOC consisted of Prof. Grobbelaar, Prof. Brian Allanson, Prof. Jenny Day, Dr Carin van Ginkel and Dr Mike Silberbauer.

SIL was founded in 1922 to further the study and understanding of all aspects of limnology, the science of inland aquatic ecosystems and their management.

Congresses are held every three years and this was the first time that SIL met on the African continent.

Almost 400 delegates from 42 countries attended this congress where the state of the science of limnology was presented with two keynote speakers, six plenary lectures, 230 oral and 76 poster presentations, mostly running in five parallel sessions. Exhibitions displayed some of South Africa’s role players as well as the latest equipment from abroad. Delegates could also join pre- and post-congress excursions and the new SIL journal, Inland Waters, was launched at the congress.

Many of the presentations dealt with water as a limited resource, pollution problems and the impact of climate change. The congress resolved that SIL would play a more prominent role in creating awareness of problems impacting on inland waters and also afforded solutions. The 32nd SIL congress will be held in Budapest, Hungary in 2013.
 

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept