Maritzburg College alumni head to Paris for the Summer Olympics

Maritzburg College Old Boys’ chairman Jon Hoatson expressed the school’s excitement for their alumni competing on the world stage.

Upbeat after the Blitzboks’ rugby sevens teams reached the semi-finals by defeating New Zealand the previous day, various Olympic athletes and managers who wore red, black, and white during their school days expressed excitement on Friday about boarding a boat on the River Seine for the opening ceremony that night.

Dean Bruyns, from the class of 1991 and part of the sport climbing management team, mentioned that the sport climbers were eager to meet teams from other sports on the boat.

Ashley Everett, two years junior to Bruyns and part of the rugby sevens management, is attending his third Olympics after Rio and Tokyo.

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“It’s a completely different experience,” he stated.

“This time, we qualified just three weeks before in Monaco. We understand our responsibility to our country, to showcase its character and what we stand for.”

Canoeing legend Andy Birkett has already been training on the Seine for almost a week.

“It’s a beautiful river,” he said.

He described the Olympic Villages as feeling “like a different world.”

Commentator Max Cluer, a contemporary of Bruyns, said his voice is in peak condition.

“Voice is a muscle, so I should be an athlete,” he joked.

Cluer emphasized that the Olympics is always a significant event.

“You have to stay up-to-date with the sporting codes. There’s a lot of international travel involved.”

Although he only flies out this evening, once in Paris, he expects “to hit the ground running.”

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