South Africa’s Darian Townsend won a gold and a bronze medal at the Berlin leg of the Fina Swimming World Cup on Sunday.
Darian Townsend continued his fine form in the swimming World Cup series as he clinched a gold and silver medal on the second day of the Doha leg.
On the sunniest day so far of the Olympics Games, South African fortunes took a turn for the better.
All is not lost yet, but there is a fair bit of panic in some SA circles as, after almost a week in Beijing, the country is yet to win a medal.
Jean Basson in the 200m freestyle offered some Olympic hope for a first SA medal on a day that saw the US victorious in the 4x100m relay final.
Teams will soon line up for the event in which South Africa won their sole gold medal of the previous Olympics — the 4x100m freestyle relay.
South Africa’s swim stars are set to gather in Cape Town this weekend for the final national swimming camp in home waters before they take up the challenge in a series of international galas prior to competing at the Beijing Olympic Games in August.
South African athletes will not be given specific targets for Beijing, but will aim to better previous records and enjoy the challenging experience of the Olympic Games. The first batch of names of athletes and officials who will form part of Team SA were announced at Olympic House in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
The Telkom South African National Aquatic Championships came to a thrilling climax at the Kings Park Aquatic Centre in Durban on Sunday evening with an unprecedented 20 swimmers posting Olympic ”A” qualifying times. It was a fitting ending to a sensational Olympic trial for the country’s swimmers.