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23 September 2020 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Supplied
Participants in the third Amazing Race travelled through the African continent, experiencing Africa’s roots and its rich, vibrant, and diverse cultures

During the third Amazing Race presented by Organisational Development and Employee Wellness, staff had the opportunity to virtually travel through Africa. 

The aim of the race with the theme, A Journey through Africa, was to celebrate South Africa and Africa’s roots and its rich, vibrant, and diverse cultures. 

Natasha Nel, organisational development specialist and organiser of the race, says they wanted to give the 13 participating teams the opportunity to explore, learn, create, and be challenged together as they travel to some of the most interesting and exotic locations around Africa, but also in South Africa. 

Here in our own country, teams had the opportunity to experience our culture as well as the diversity of beliefs and traditions.


Here in our own country, teams had the opportunity to experience our culture as well as the diversity of beliefs and traditions.

Interactive and exciting event

Nel says staff could join the race in the convenience of their personal working space via a Zoom meeting. “They only needed to download the game that was specifically tailored for the UFS.” 

“It was a fun, interactive, and exciting event. In this unique adventure, it was interesting to see how teams worked together, made decisions, and also thought outside the box during the challenges,” she says.

Nel explains that teams were requested to take photos, answer questions, and make decisions unique to Africa and their culture. Some decisions and answers were timed. They also had to decide where they wanted to travel, but each decision and option had its costs, reward, and challenge linked to it.

We are the champions

Chanel Lewis, Aneke Kruger, Runé van der Merwe, and Lischen du Randt walked away as winners of the third Amazing Race. 

By participating in this race, the university has sponsored 13 breakfasts for the Community Chest of South Africa (this organisation’s mission is to inspire and facilitate community giving for community enhancement).


News Archive

Sarah, our own champion
2008-11-05

 
Sarah Shannon at the Paralympic Games in Beijing

 

Sarah Shannon, a second-year student in the Postgraduate Certificate in Education, has been involved in disability sport on national level for the past 12 years. Sarah has cerebral palsy.

In 1996 she participated at the South African National Championships for the physically disabled for the first time, entering for several sporting codes and winning five gold medals. In swimming she participates in the S3 class together with other swimmers that have comparable abilities to hers.

In 1997 she decided to focus on swimming competitively. She participated in her first national championships for swimming that year. After that (1998) she represented South Africa on international level at the International Paralympic Committee’s (IPC) Swimming World Championships in New Zealand where she ended 4th in the 50m backstroke and 7th in both the 50m and 100m freestyle in her class.

In 1999 she represented South Africa in Johannesburg at the 7th All Africa Games and won a silver medal for the 50m freestyle and a bronze medal for the 100m freestyle.

In 2000 she was part of the South African team at the Sydney Paralympic Games where she reached the finals and finished 7th in the 50m backstroke and 8th in the 50m freestyle. Northern-KwaZulu-Natal also awarded her the Junior Sportswoman of the Year award in 2001. In 2002 she participated at the South African Senior National swimming championships for KwaZulu-Natal in the multi-disability category.

In 2005 she completed the Midmar Mile. She also represented South Africa at the world championships for athletes with cerebral palsy in Boston in the United States of America. She won two gold medals for respectively the 50m freestyle and the 50m backstroke and two silver medals in the 100m and 200m freestyle. She was also nominated to represent South Africa as athlete’s representative on the world committee of CPISRA (Cerebral Palsy International Sports and Recreation Association). In this year Sarah also received the KwaZulu-Natal Premier’s Sportswoman with a disability award of the year.

In 2006 she qualified for the IPC world championships but could not attend.

In 2007 she represented South Africa once more at the Visa Paralympic World Cup in Manchester in the United Kingdom where she broke the South African record in the 50m backstroke, finishing 7th in the 50m freestyle and 6th in the 50m backstroke.

She was also part of the very successful Team South Africa to the Paralympic Games in Beijing. She reached the finals in both the 50m backstroke and 50m freestyle. She finished 7th in the 50m freestyle and 6th in the 50m backstroke in personal best times for both events. She has been participating in the able bodied South African National Swimming Championships since 2002. She is currently ranked 2nd in the world for short course items and 11th for the long course items. She is truly our best swimmer in the S3 class.
 

 

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