During the South African High School and LSEN National Championships Leander Pholman represented the Western Cape and won a record breaking five gold medals. This took place in Paarl between Monday 4 and Wednesday 6 March.
Leander is an athlete from Langebaan Strandlopers and learner at Weskus Skool. He also made the 15 and 7s rugby team in 2023 at his school and is also “one of the best athletes at Weskus Skool,” said his school principal, Con Koegelenberg.
In 2022 and ’23 Leander won both in the 400 m and 800 m events, breaking the Boland 800 m record and the South Africa u-17 400 m record in a time of 49,55.
He is also the current Boland Senior 400 m champion, winning in a time of 49,45
During the 400 m heats Leander broke the u-19 record with a time of 49,55 and in the final he broke it again in a time of 49,28.
He ran his heat in 200 m in a time of 22,83 and won the final 22,31. Leander later had to run the 800 m and won it in a time of 2,01,71.
“He has been blessed with both speed and endurance, which is very rare,” said his coach Clive Cupido.
Leander was also part of the 4 x 100 m and the Swedish relay (consisting out of 100, 200, 300 and 400 m) running both anchor legs, which the Western Cape LSEN team won.
He has an amazing support structure behind him, one being his aunt Bianca Pholman, a previous middle-distance athlete who also ran in the South African National School Championships. She is also a South African gymnast.
