World 4x100m freestyle record holders Ryk Neethling and Roland Schoeman will be joined by two of Lyndon Ferns, Darian Townsend, Gerhard Zandberg and Karl Thaning when the aquatics action takes centre stage on the first day of action at the 18th Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia, on March 16.
Ferns and Townsend joined Neethling and Schoeman at the top of the medal podium after the gold-medal-winning effort and world-record time of three minutes and 13,17 seconds at the Olympic Games held in Athens in 2004.
The 4x100m freestyle morning heats at the new Melbourne Sports and Aquatics Centre will decide who will join Neethling and Schoeman in a bid to see off the challenge from arch-rivals Australia in what should be a pulsating final.
Team South Africa’s mission to Melbourne will also be the start of a new era for South African women’s swimming, after none was able to post qualifying times to compete at the Athens Olympics.
Teenage swimmers Chanelle van Wyk, and Jean-Marie Neethling — sister of Ryk — are among a new group of female aquatics rising stars set to build their careers towards taking South African women’s swimming to its healthy standards of days gone by.
Van Wyk (16) will compete in the 50m and 100m butterfly and 100m backstroke, while Neethling (15) will come under the starter’s order for the 200m individual medley and the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke.
The Melbourne conditions will bring back pleasant memories for Thabang Moeketsane (50m and 100m breaststroke), Lauren Roets (50m and 100m freestyle), Melissa Corfe (100m backstroke, 200m backstroke, 400m freestyle), Lisa-Marie Retief (50m and 100m butterfly, 100m freestyle, 50m and 100m backstroke), Jean Basson (200m and 400m freestyle) and Van Wyk, who all made it on to the medal podium when they represented the Team South Africa youth team at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Bendigo, Australia, two years back.
In Bendigo, Team South Africa finished third on the medal standings (behind Australia and the United Kingdom) with 56 medals (20 gold, 18 silver and 18 bronze).
South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee president Moss Mashishi said Team South Africa’s swimmers will play a crucial role as they try to better the medal haul of 46 medals obtained at the previous Commonwealth Games in Manchester.
”Swimmers of the calibre of Neethling and Schoeman have shown the way and we look forward to cheering them and all of the other Team South Africa swimmers on in their quest for fast times when they take to the water in Melbourne,” said Mashishi. — Sapa