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02 November 2020 | Story Ruan Bruwer | Photo Varsity Sports
Lefébre Rademan, the country’s top student netball player in 2019, has been snatched up by English netball club London Pulse to play in England in 2021.

 

Attempting to become an even better netballer, former Kovsies netball captain Lefébre Rademan decided to jet off to England to play in their league.

Rademan was contracted by London Pulse to compete in the European Superleague in 2021. She will be the fourth Kovsie after Maryka Holtzhausen (2015 and 2018-2019), Karla Pretorius (2016), and Khanyisa Chawane (2020) to play in the league.

Rademan said it was an easy decision, even though it will be far and a long time away from home. The league runs from February to July, with a pre-season in December. She will continue with her master’s degree at the University of the Free State next year.

“I am not going to play netball forever and such an opportunity doesn’t come often. Having competed against England, New Zealand, and Jamaica earlier in the year, I realised they play at a much higher level and if I want to improve and become the best, I would also need to move to a next level.”

“As a goal attack, having Protea teammate Sigi Burger (goal shooter) at the same club, will be an advantage for both of us and for the Proteas as a combination.”

Rademan has had a great past two years, making her Protea debut (12 tests in total) and receiving a number of accolades, such as the Varsity Netball Player of the Tournament in 2019.

In the Telkom Netball League in October, captaining the Free State Crinums, she was named Shooter of the Tournament. She was Player of the Match twice. Her goal average of 88,1% was the highest in the competition.

“Last year was such a good year for me personally, but that remains in the past. You can’t become complacent. I want to keep working hard and become a much better player,” Rademan said.

 

News Archive

Heart-valve studies receive international recognition
2017-07-11

 Description: Heart-valve studies  Tags: Heart-valve studies  

Prof Francis Smit, Head of the Department of
Cardiothoracic Surgery at the UFS, and Manager of the
Robert WM Frater Cardiovascular Research Centre, with
Kyle Davis, Mechanical Engineer at the centre.

Photo: Rulanzen Martin

Three heart-valve studies which have been developed at the Robert WM Frater Cardiovascular Research Centre at the School of Medicine at the University of the Free State (UFS) were recently presented in Monte Carlo at the conference of the prestigious global Heart Valve Society (HVS).

These studies are all headed by Prof Francis Smit, Head of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the UFS, and Manager of the Robert WM Frater Cardiovascular Research Centre.
Prof Smit says the HVS is a combination of the former heart-valve societies of Europe and the US. “Studies on heart-valve disease, heart-valve-related products and operations, as well as the design and development of new valves were presented. There are both clinical and development divisions.

He says the study in which the hemodynamics of their redesigned mechanical poppet valve was compared to a commercial bi-leaflet mechanical heart valve, was named as the best poster presentation in the experimental valve development and numerical flow dynamics division. The study, which was presented by Kyle Davis, mechanical engineer at the centre, competed against some of the best heart-valve research units in the world.

The redesigned valve, based on the 1960s Cape Town poppet valve, has the potential to provide a low-cost solution for mechanical heart-valve replacement. It is possible to produce the titanium ring with 3-D printers and is, together with the silicon poppet valve, extremely inexpensive compared to current mechanical valve-manufacturing processes.
The advantages of this valve over current mechanical valves is that, due to the effective and laminar flow characteristics, as well as the simple locking mechanisms, there is a reduced chance of valve thrombosis, and the need for anti-clotting drugs is therefore limited.

It was also confirmed that the new valve more than meets the published FDA (Federal Drug Agency) requirements, which determine the minimum standards of valves for human use in the US.

The redesigned valve also has a very low platelet activation impact, which is responsible for platelet thrombosis and leads to valve thrombosis or strokes. This valve is another heart-valve project by the centre, which is also in the process of evaluating a tri-leaflet polyurethane valve developed by them.


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