Tatum Botha continues rapid rise ahead of Lifesaving National Club Championships

Sport24, in partnership with DHL and Lifesaving SA, previews the athletes likely to make a splash in the surf or sizzle on the sand at the 2022 DHL Lifesaving National Club Championships in Gqeberha from 20-26 March.

Young Tatum Botha continues her rapid ascent in the lifesaving community and will head into the National Club Champs this year having dominated in the same tournament last year, and recently having starred for team South Africa at the 2022 African Champs, hosted in Egypt.

Daughter of lifesaving legend Dylan Botha - who represented South Africa in Australia in 1992, was the National Surf champion twice, won numerous inter-provincial and provincial titles and has coached Durban Surf Nippers for 14 years - Botha junior (who started the sport at just eight years old) is quickly ticking all the right boxes in a quest to fill and perhaps outgrow her father’s shoes.

Competing out of age group, and up against seniors at the African Champs, Botha beat teammate and established lifesaver Kristin Bellingan to win gold in the Surf Race, after which she came second to Bellingan in the Run-Swim-Run and the Board Race. The two women made a huge contribution to the 500 points tally that saw South Africa win the Champs, with Botha claiming 56 out of a possible 60 points.

Bellingan, 24, speaks highly of her young team-mate’s talents and potential, saying ahead of this year's National Champs, “Tatum Botha is a very talented young up and coming competitor and I have no doubt that she would pose a huge threat in the surf swim and board events.”

Heading into the National Champs this year, Botha will be looking to emulate her form of last year, at the same competition, where she collected several gold medals as she dominated the U17