Mandela University Sport Scientist to Represent at Olympic Games

The Olympic Games will run from 26 July to 11 August, with Artistic Swimming taking place at the tail end of the global sports event, from 5 to 10 August.

Being a former national artistic swimmer herself, Courtney will be part of both the difficulty and synchronisation panels, rotating between the two roles throughout the event.

The difficulty panel assesses the routines live and checks if the routine is swum according to what the coach declared.

For the synchronisation panel, the technical controllers judge the number of synchronisation errors during the routine.

Courtney will be one of six technical controllers, which is new to this sport, and links closely to Courtney’s educational background.

“We will be looking at the mechanics and just how the swimmer completes each movement in the routine; it is all about the accuracy, and I think that this plays into my strengths as a sports scientist,” she says.

Courtney realised her love for the sport during the completion of her undergraduate degree – a BSc in biochemistry and human movement science – which led to her enrolling for an honours degree in sports science, and then a master’s degree; with all qualifications being completed at Mandela University.

The 29-year-old has not slowed down in her quest for excellence, having enrolled for a PhD, with her research focusing on the field of Biochemanics, using 3-D motion capture technology to track athlete’s kinematics and kinetics during landing tasks. Courtney hopes to transition into lecturing in the foreseeable future.

She credits Madibaz Sport, which offered her a bursary during her undergraduate studies and the Human Movement Science department for supporting her, which ultimately ensured her place in sport’s grandest stage.

During the final year of her master’s studies, Courtney was a full-time national athlete in artistic swimming and had been training towards the world championships in Gwangju, South Korea. She lauds her department for giving her time away to excel on the sporting and academic front.

“The University has allowed me numerous opportunities to pursue being an official and athlete by giving me the support to balance my studies, work and sporting ambitions,” says Courtney, who also emphasises the importance of time management.

Having started competing at nine years old in different levels, both junior and senior level at world championships, Courtney stopped competing nationally for the South African team in 2020 and transitioned into coaching.

Courtney’s work as the lab technician and a sports scientist working within the Madibaz High Performance Centre, has also provided her with a platform to work closely with several different athletes, who are competing at provincial, national and international level.

These include athletes within Madibaz Sport, the Eastern Cape Academy of Sport, Warriors Cricket, Cricket South Africa and international athletes from Switzerland and Kenya.

“I am privileged to be able to work with a range of different individuals, both professionally and within the sporting community; allowing me to grow as a sport scientist and researcher,” says Courtney.

In her current capacity as an official, Courtney hopes to train more technical officials in the country to represent South Africa in similar high-level competitions, and to grow the sport internationally, especially in developing countries.

Mandela University will also be represented in the Olympics by Cheslyn Gie, the head coach of the South African Men’s Hockey Team. The University wishes both our representatives all the best in the upcoming Olympics!