The world celebrated World Water Day (22 March) this week and Maties Sport put the spotlight on its water-based sport codes.

On a positive note, the Maties Water Polo team did Maties Sport proud by winning bronze at the SA National Aquatic Champs held at the Coetzenburg Swimming Pool from 18-21 March.

The recent Currie Cup competition saw the traditional format of the event moving away from a provincial to a club competition, which resulted in more teams being included. This was hailed as a successful decision.

On a more worrying note, several Maties Sport clubs mentioned that the current water crisis in the Western Cape is having a negative impact on their ability to train and compete.

"Due to the current drought our dam is virtually empty, making our training extremely difficult. Our rivers around the province are all empty and therefore we cannot paddle them as usual," says Evan Knight, chairperson of the Maties Canoe Club.

The club had some recent successes with five Maties paddlers finishing in the Top 100 in the Dusi Canoe Marathon – two in the Top 50. A Maties paddler also came 7th in the non-stop Dusi.

Evan encourages people to save water by turning off the taps while brushing their teeth and choosing to shower instead of bath.

Alexander Ham, Commodore of the University of Stellenbosch Yacht Club (USYC) explains that due to the water shortage some water bodies are just too shallow for them to use.

"With the continuing crisis this is reducing the number of waterbodies that we can sail on."

He gives the following useful tips: Place a bucket in the shower and use the water to irrigate your garden and use less electricity as power plants use thousands of litres of water to cool.

Until now, the Maties Swimming club has been 'protected' from the water shortage, but if the drought persists it is highly likely that their opportunity to train in the outdoor facility will be compromised, says coach Brett Wood.

His tips include changing your soap to something that is environmentally friendly so that you can bucket and channel all grey water into irrigation, placing a full bottle in your toilet's cistern to save water with every flush, covering your pool to reduce water loss by evaporation and installing water tanks.

The club is in serious training mode, with 25 swimmers competing in the World Championship trials in Durban in April, while 15 junior swimmers competed at the Junior National Championships from 17-21 March.

Members of the Maties Underwater Club spend as much time as possible in the ocean but do rely on the pool for training in all three of their disciplines (scuba, underwater hockey and freediving).

"A large group of our club are scuba divers and conservation is very important to them," says Joanne Jeffery.

She adds the following tip to what has been mentioned above: Fix any leaking pipes and taps or report them where necessary.

#savewater