The 7.5 km race proved decisive for Leah Markgraaff.

Her win at the national open-water championships secured the qualifying standard required for selection to the South African team for the World Aquatics Junior Open Water Swimming Championships, which will take place in Santa Fe, Argentina, from 3 to 6 September 2026.

The HeronBridge College swimmer will contest the 7.5 km event at the championships after a season in which she produced results across open-water and pool competition.

Range across open-water distances

Leah’s national open-water campaign covered several distances and race formats.

She won the 7.5 km event, claimed victory in the 3 km race in both her age group and the Open Age category, finished 6th overall in the Open Age 10 km race, placed 2nd in the 17-18 age-group 5 km event, and finished 5th overall in the Open Age 5 km race. She was also part of the winning 4x1000 m relay team.

Those results show her capacity to race across distances that demand different pacing, positioning and decision-making. Open-water swimming also brings changing conditions, contact in the pack and the need to read the race while managing energy over long distances.

Medals for South Africa in Algeria

Leah has also represented South Africa in pool competition.

At the African Junior Swimming Championships in Oran, Algeria, she won silver in the 400 m freestyle and bronze in the 1500 m freestyle. The results placed her on the podium against many of the continent’s strongest junior swimmers and added international medals to her season.

Her success across the 400 m, 1500 m and open-water distances points to a swimmer who can move between controlled pool racing and longer tactical events in open water.

Senior nationals added another benchmark

Earlier in the year, Leah competed at the South African Senior National Championships, where she finished 6th in the 1500 m freestyle and improved her personal best by 16 seconds.

That performance showed her ability to race in senior competition while still building her profile as a junior endurance swimmer.