Suzaan matriculated at Eunice Meisies Skool in Bloemfontein, where she swam with coach Lynette Wessels at the Otters Swimming Club.  After winning the 200m breaststroke at the South African swimming championships held in Durban in 2004.  In 2005 she moved to the High Performance Squad at the University of Pretoria, where she swam under coach Igor Olmetshenko. 

After taking a break from swimming following the 2008 Olympics, where she placed 5th in prelims of the 100 breaststroke before stumbling in the semi’s and failing to advance, Suzaan returned in 2011 to compete at the 2012 Olympic Games, after training with Graham Hill at the Seagull Swimming Club. Later she moved up to Pretoria where she trained under Igor Omeltchenko.

She finished 7th at the 2012 London Olympics, making her the only female South African swimmer to make a final. She retired in 2013 as the African record holder in the 200 long course breaststroke, with a 2:23.21 done at the 2012 Olympics, as well as the 100 and 200 in short course meters.

Suzaan was the Head Coach at Tuks Swimming Satelite Club in Pretoria, and in 2020 she became the Aquatics Manager at Rhenish Girls' High School in Stellenbosch.

Another victory in the water for Van Biljon

20 Apr 2006

Suzaan van Biljon has come a long way since winning her first national title as a plucky 14-year-old.

And on Wednesday night she capped off a great season, which has included Commonwealth Games bronze and World Short Course silver, by winning the 100m breaststroke title at the Telkom South African National Championships in Durban.

Van Biljon swam 1:09,38 to finish well ahead of Daniella Zaverdinos (1:12,32) and Claire Archibald (1:12,78), and with her 18th birthday only a week away had plenty to celebrate.

“I felt quite bad in the water tonight but am pleased with that time,” she admitted afterwards. “We only had two days after we arrived back from Shanghai before coming here, so I think my body is more tired than I realise,” she added. “It’s great to win my third title in the 100m breaststroke.

There has been such a big change since I won my first one four years ago. I have moved to Pretoria [from Bloemfontein] and have had three coaches in the meantime, and I have been very surprised at how quickly my times have dropped since January last year.”

Van Biljon still has the 50m and 200m breaststroke and the 200m individual medley to come, but described the rest of the meet as a “fun gala”, before rushing off to watch her friend and teammate William Diering winning the men’s 100m breaststroke in an impressive 1:02,46.

Meanwhile, another of the country’s Commonwealth Games medallists, George du Rand, put in his usual slick performance in the 200m backstroke, which he won in 2:00,91. Chris King was second in 2:06,34 and Rohan Jacobs third in 2:06,89.

“I was hoping for somewhere around this time, so I’m happy, but obviously it would have been nice to go under two minutes,” Du Rand said after the race.

“I’ve done a lot of racing over the last two months, though, so to be around my best time is satisfactory. I am still feeling surprisingly good, although today my body was a bit sore,” he said, adding that he is planning to still defend his 100m butterfly title at this meet.

2006

Her face has been splashed in newspapers around the world, but who is Suzaan van Biljon really?

When Suzaan van Biljon sits down for our interview, she is probably expecting the usual line of swimming-centered questions. The 18-year-old seems quite used to the interrogation setup and doesn’t show the least bit of unease. I tell her that my focus is not on swimming but on who Suzaan van Biljon really is – her expression doesn’t change.

“If that’s the angle, I don’t know how much I can help you,” she says with just the faintest smile. “I don’t talk about myself easily.”

Perhaps a bit like a chocolate éclair toffee?

“So you’ve heard? At the TuksSport matric farewell our principal, Ms. Hettie, compared me to a toffee: tough on the outside but soft on the inside – and also capable of pulling out a filling! It’s a perfect description of me.” Suzaan’s smile broadens and we get onto the relatively familiar ground of her strong points.

Goal-orientated, disciplined, and determined – adjectives every champion swimmer needs in their summarized fact-file. But what would the in-depth, noholds-barred biography of the 18-year-old reveal? “I guess one of my weak points is my impatience. If don’t get the results I work towards I can get pretty upset.” Steadily the ice thaws. “I think I intimidate people quite easily because I speak my mind, which isn’t always a bad thing, but I could probably chill out a bit more.”

 Suzaan’s serious nature shouldn’t, however, be labeled as a flaw too hastily. It is exactly because of her intense approach to life that the swimmer has managed to excel in her sport. This year alone, the matric pupil has snapped up three medals on the international stage – bronze at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games, silver at the Ring Short Course in Germany, and gold at the Canada Pan Pacific Championships. A tough toffee indeed

“Like every individual sport, swimming requires a lot of hard work,” Suzaan says as she explains the demands of being on top. “It’s like a full-time job because I train for nearly six hours every day. But I don’t mind – I get out what I put in.”

We dry ourselves of the swim talk and get back on track with Suzaan’s behind-the-scenes life. “There’s much more to do in Pretoria and it’s more exciting.” She explains the effect big city life can have on a girl from Bloem. “When my dad and I came to check out the HPC (High Performance Centre) three years ago, I told him this is where I need to be. Since coming here in 2004, I’ve met many people and I’ve learned a lot.” She pauses for a while before speaking again. “You might not believe this, but I’m a lot less reserved now than before I came.”

 So what does the future hold? Apart from dominating the women’s breaststroke event, Suzaan would like to study Hotel Management at the University of Pretoria next year.

“I can bake but I can’t cook, that’s why I’d like to study in this direction,” she says. “One of my dreams is to one day be a good wife and mother.” She laughs and I begin to see the soft interior of the toffee.

 After cooking we move on to a passion Suzaan actually has experience with – animals. She joyfully recounts how her hamsters had destroyed the newlylaid wooden floor of her Bloemfontein home when she was small and also informs me of her love for meerkats. As the word ‘love’ escapes her lips, I notice a twinkle in her eye and ask her if the word can be used in connection with a two-legged animal as well.

“Yes, I have a boyfriend. He studies at Tuks and we train together.” She blushes slightly, but says no more. The enigmatic Suzaan courteously thanks me for the interview, gets up and disappears round the corner

Suzaan is ready to breast the heights

25 Mar 2007 
The country’s top breaststroker is still trying to reach the heights of swimming queen Penny Heyns, whose marks in the 50m, 100m and 200m races were world records at the turn of the century.

Even so, Van Biljon’s performances are good enough to make her the first female South African to win a world championship medal in Melbourne this week. The 100m breaststroke final is scheduled for Tuesday evening and the 200m for Friday. But Van Biljon, 18, points out that her strength is the longer race.

“I’m not a sprinter,” she said at the high-performance centre in Pretoria, the day before leaving for Australia. Her preference for the 200m was obvious during the interview. In the longer race, she uses 17 strokes a length but, in the 100m, “I have no idea”. She knew her personal best for the 200m — 2min 25.44sec — o the top of her head.

When I asked what it was in the 100m, she had to look it up on her cell. “I needed it to ll out a form. I had to SMS my mom to find out — she knows my times.” It turns out her best 100m effort came at the 2005 World Championships in Montreal, where she ended sixth (1:08.38), beating former SA swimmer Sarah Poewe in the process. She was eighth in the 200m that year, although she has improved significantly in those two years.

Her current personal best would have been good enough for silver two years ago. She is ranked fourth in the world in the 200m and has already claimed silverware at the Pan Pacific Championships (gold) and Commonwealth Games (bronze). Heyns, who won two Olympic golds and a bronze in her illustrious career, never won a world championship medal.

If successful, Van Biljon would be the first. “Swimming’s been about training and doing well,” she says, adding that her primary goal is the Beijing Olympics next year. “If all goes well, I want to be No 1 in the 200m, and stay No 1 until it’s time to quit.” Despite her big dreams, Van Biljon is down to earth. She’s wearing shorts for the interview and when the photographer asks her to pose, her response was typical of any teenage girl: “Oh, don’t take pictures of my legs. They’re so hairy!”

Swimmers, male and fe male, stay unshaved until competition. “We dry-shave. It takes o a layer of dead skin — it helps with sensation in the water.” Van Biljon, a hospitality management student at Tukkies, shares a house with other Pretoria-based students, including 400m hurdles star LJ van Zyl. She’s originally from the same city as Neethling, Bloemfontein, although she didn’t meet him until she started competing at the senior national championships. “I knew his sister [Jean-Marie], though.”

One of the biggest advantages of growing up in the Free State capital was the pets Van Biljon got from a farmer friend — two tame meerkats. “They’re the most adorable animals ever.” Since moving to Pretoria she’s had to give up the animals, although in her room in her digs is a picture of a meerkat, drawn by her boyfriend, swimmer Byron Ferguson. Perhaps the sketch will soon have a world championship medal for company. ý For results from the World Championships, go to:

Suzaan’s Turkish delight

May 11, 2012
Beijing Olympian Suzaan van Biljon may have taken a two-year hiatus from the pool but she’s come back stronger and faster and has sealed the last leg of the stringent qualifying criteria to represent Team South Africa at the London Olympics later this year.

Her time of 2min 26.85sec in Turkey recently saw her beating the Olympic A standard of 2min 26.88sec for the 200-metre breaststroke. That might have been cutting it fine (by just 0.03sec) but she’d already swum times of 2:25.88 and 2:26.74 at the national championships in Durban last month.

Her local and international qualifying times plus the fact that she achieved a qualifying time at national champs would seem to have rubber-stamped her place on Team SA.

Van Biljon’s mom and dad (Mariette and Peet) were on hand to see her clock that first qualifying time in Durban. “The whole Absa stadium were cheering her on in the semi-final… stroke by stroke,” says a proud Mariette. “I have never heard anything like that in my whole life!! I did not even watch the last 50 metres!┬áShe said that she has nothing to lose, and just went for it!!! She has unreal big match temperament. Me and my husband both cried… ”

Bloemfontein born and bred, Van Biljon moved to Durban after her post Olympics two-year chill period but has since moved up to Pretoria where she trains under Igor Omeltchenko who was with her in Turkey.

“I’m ecstatic about qualifying and meeting the criteria,” she told Road to London 2012. “I honestly didn’t have the slightest bit of expectation on doing the qualifying time. So it still seems a little surreal,” grinned the 24-year-old.

The bizarre thing about Van Biljon’s Olympic quest is that she had been focusing her training for the last three months on the 100m breaststroke but failed to nail that qualifying time in Durban (although she won all three breaststroke events). But her and the coach realised she still had a chance in the 200m. It was then that her big match temperament came to the fore and she swam the first of her qualifying times.

“I mean I only started swimming about 16 months ago and making the Olympics was always an afterthought, all I wanted was to enjoy my swimming this time round so I’m incredibly blessed!”

But the Turkish long-course championships weren’t without their complications. She says: “The competition in Turkey? Well that was something, I totally lost my feel for my stroke when I arrived in Istanbul and my body took quite a beating on the flight there so I wasn’t in a very good condition.

“Coach Igor and I both knew I was not looking so great in the water and we knew it would be really tough.”

Her solution, she just put herself in the hands of fate. “During my warm-up for the 200m breast I made peace with the race that was about to come, that whatever happens must just happen (something my boyfriend Shaun had told me earlier that day).”

On to the actual race she was still not holding out much hope. “During my race I was convinced I was not going to do the time, I was hurting and my technique felt terrible but I tried as hard as I could. I touched the wall and took a few seconds before I looked at the time board and then when I saw the 2.26.85… I was shaking my head, thinking… ‘that’s not possible’.

“My coach was so happy, me too… both relieved and amazed that I would have another opportunity to go to the Olympics.” Van Biljon was still down to swim the 100m breaststroke at the competition but pulled out. “I only swam the 200m as my coach said ‘the work is done and now you can relax’ so no 100m and we had three wonderful days in Istanbul.”

Her next and far bigger dream no doubt will be to have a few wonderful days in the Olympic Pool in London later this year.
http://www.teamsa.co.za/durban-then-istanbul-is-next-stop-london-for-suzaan/

Suzaan van Biljon, Jade Edmistone and Jessica Hardy - 9th FINA world champs SC

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