If swimming in South Africa will be a force to be reckoned with, they 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 SA championships held at the King’s Park pool to book spots in the SA swimming team to take part at the world championship in Kazan, Russia, later this year.
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 lowly numbers of qualifiers for the international meet to be held in August.
Schoeman pointed out the shortfalls which may have played a part in so few qualifications, stressing that conditions in South Africa were not on par with those of international standards in other top swimming nations.
“The reality is that we are nowhere near the top nations like USA, England and Australia in how things are done,” Schoeman said.
“King’s Park is a great facility and I enjoy swimming here, but you can’t compare it to other world-class facilities.”
He explained: “The water, for example, is 24°C, whereas the international standards have a minimum of 26°C. To some it may seem like nothing, but 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’s not sufficient. Those sort of things do play a huge role in how a swimmer performs.
“If we want to compete against USA and England, then we have to have similar conditions. Hopefully Swimming SA can do something about these issues.”
Although disappointed by his own failure to hit the 22.25sec qualifying mark by a mere 0.25sec, Schoeman, who was swimming in his 18th SA champs, remained optimistic he could still qualify for next year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
“This is not the end, I know. 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 know what I am capable of. I’m confident that 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.
SA not on par, says Schoeman
Only five swimmers – Myles Brown, Chad le Clos, Cameron van der Burgh, Sebastien Rousseau and Ayrton Sweeney – managed to swim qualifying times at the SA championships held at the King’s Park pool to book spots in the SA swimming team to take part at the world championship in Kazan, Russia, later this year.
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 lowly numbers of qualifiers for the international meet to be held in August.
Schoeman pointed out the shortfalls which may have played a part in so few qualifications, stressing that conditions in South Africa were not on par with those of international standards in other top swimming nations.
“The reality is that we are nowhere near the top nations like USA, England and Australia in how things are done,” Schoeman said.
“King’s Park is a great facility and I enjoy swimming here, but you can’t compare it to other world-class facilities.”
He explained: “The water, for example, is 24°C, whereas the international standards have a minimum of 26°C. To some it may seem like nothing, but 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’s not sufficient. Those sort of things do play a huge role in how a swimmer performs.
“If we want to compete against USA and England, then we have to have similar conditions. Hopefully Swimming SA can do something about these issues.”
Although disappointed by his own failure to hit the 22.25sec qualifying mark by a mere 0.25sec, Schoeman, who was swimming in his 18th SA champs, remained optimistic he could still qualify for next year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
“This is not the end, I know. 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 know what I am capable of. I’m confident that 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.
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