Swimming in SA below par
[caption id="attachment_78560" align="alignright" width="292"] MADE IT: Myles Brown after winning the 200m freestyle finals during day three of the South African National Aquatic Championships at Kings Park Swimming Pool Picture: GALLO IMAGES -[/caption]
IF SWIMMING in South Africa is going to be a force to be reckoned with, we need to be on par with world-leading nations, veteran Olympian Roland Schoeman believes.
Only five swimmers – Myles Brown, Chad le Clos, Cameron van der Burgh, Sebastien Rousseau and Ayrton Sweeney – managed to swim qualifying times at the South African championships held at the Kings Park pool to book spots in the national team taking part at the world championships in Kazan, Russia, in August.
No women made the cut. Schoeman himself failed in his task of qualifying in the 50m freestyle.
The 34-year-old former Olympic medallist expressed his disappointment, not only at his own failure, but at the low number of qualifiers.
Schoeman stressed conditions in South Africa were not on par with those of international standards in other top swimming nations.
“The reality is we are nowhere near where the top nations like the US, England and Australia in how things are done,” Schoeman said at the end of the championships. “Look, Kings Park is a great facility and I enjoy swimming here, but you can’t compare it to other world-class facilities.”
He said: “The water, for example, is 24 degrees, whereas the international standards have a minimum of 26 degrees. Two degrees makes a huge difference for a swimmer.
“Then if you look at the lighting in the outside pool where we warm up and warm down – it is not sufficient. Those sorts of things play a huge role in how a swimmer performs.
“If we want to compete against the US and England, we have to have similar conditions. Hopefully Swimming SA can do something about these issues.”
Although disappointed by his failure to hit the 22.25sec qualifying mark by a mere 0.25sec, Schoeman, who was swimming in his 18th South African championships, remained optimistic he could still qualify for next year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
“It is still my goal to make it to the Rio Olympics. I will just have to find another way to make sure I get there. I’m confident I can swim the qualifying time,” he said.
“I’m not as young as I used to be – the body needs rest. I will take a week or two off to rest and then I will start with my training again.”
Those who have qualified for the world champs are Brown in the 200m, 400m and 800m freestyle; Le Clos in the 200m freestyle, 200m individual medley, and the 100m and 200m butterfly.
Van der Burgh will be in the 100m and 200m breaststroke, Rousseau in the 200m butterfly and 400m individual medley, and Sweeney will swim the 200m breaststroke.
-Chumani Bambani
