The 2025 Africa Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships in Cairo unfolded from Thursday, May 1 through Sunday, May 4, showcasing four days of high-caliber racing.
The story of the meet was South Africa's overwhelming dominance, as they collected 25 golds and 52 total medals. Egypt trailed in 2nd with 10 golds and 43 overall, as the two nations distanced themselves from the rest of the countries.
18-year-old Jessica Thompson, a Virginia commit listed as a member of the class of 2026, emerged as the meet's dominant performer, leading South Africa with five individual gold medals. Her wins came in the 100 backstroke (1:02.51), 100 freestyle (57.49), 50 backstroke (28.67 prelims, 28.83 final), 50 butterfly (26.61), and 50 free (25.48). None of these performances were lifetime bests, as her fastest times remain 1:01.68 in the 100 back, 28.29 in the 50 back, 26.41 in the 50 fly, 25.13 in the 50 free, and 56.32 in the 100 free.
Thompson was instrumental in relay victories as well, helping South Africa to gold in the women's 4×100 free, mixed 4×100 free, women's 4×100 medley, and mixed 4×100 medley.
Fellow South African Keira Van Heerden was equally impressive. She joined Thompson on both medley relays and swept all three breaststroke events. The 18-year-old opened with a clocking of 32.85 in the 50 -- the only swimmer under 33 seconds -- then claimed the 100 title in 1:12.24, outpacing Egypt's Ganat Karem Hafez by exactly a second. Van Heerden has been quicker in both distances with career marks of 32.69 and 1:10.92.
Van Heerden closed out her breaststroke sweep with a 2:37.09 win in the 200, though her career best stands at 2:31.82. She also picked up a 4th win in the 200 IM, logging 2:22.53 to win by just under a second. She's been as quick as 2:18.83 in that race.
Distance specialist Scarlett Le Roux added three more individual golds to South Africa's haul. She got things going with a silver in the 1500 free, producing a time of 17:41.35 behind Morocco's Malak Meqdar, who won in a personal-best 17:29.43. Le Roux rebounded with a trio of titles -- 9:09.35 in the 800m, 4:27.79 in the 400m, and 2:05.35 in the 200m freestyle -- all best times.
Le Roux also helped South Africa nab gold in the women's 4×200 free relay. She notched a split of 2:09.06 on the second leg, which was well shy of her marker from the individual swim.