Natalie was born in Cape Town on 29 January 1984. She attended Timour Hall Primary School and Wynberg GHS. Later she completed her school education at the Reddam House in Cape Town. She continued her education by pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Cape Town. Her major was in Genetics and Physiology. Her coach was Karoly von Törös of the Vineyard Swimming Club.
At the age of 14, in 1998 Natalie set a new SA record in the 400 IM at the South African Championships in Durban, achieving a qualifying time for the upcoming Commonwealth Games. She finished second in the 200m butterfly, also in a qualifying time for the Games. She was selected to compete in the Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games, where she swam in the 200m butterfly and 400 m IM events. The Western Province women's 4x100 medley relay team of du Toit, Renate du Plessis, Sara Poewe, and Ingrid Theunissen won the gold medal at nationals. She was seen as a bright star in the future of Western Province swimming.
At the 7th All-Africa Games held 12–18 September 1999 at the Ellis Park Aquatic Complex in Johannesburg, Natalie finished second to Mandy Loots in both the 200 fly and 400 IM.
In 2000 she missed qualifying for the Sydney Olympic Games but did compete in the 400m IM at the FINA World SC Championships held in Athens. Her time of 4:47 was considerably faster than the time of 5:03 she set at Kaula Lumpur.
But her life changed track dramatically in February 2001, when she lost her leg in a motorcycle accident.
She was riding her scooter back to school after swimming practice when a reckless driver driving out of a parking place crashed right into her left leg. Her leg had to be amputated, below the knee.
After spending two weeks in hospital, the strong-minded Natalie climbed back into the pool, determined to inspire others with her fortitude and winning approach.
Despite the enormity of her setback, she was resolute in her decision to participate in the Manchester Games – both as an able-bodied and disabled competitor, just to prove it could be done.
And one year after the accident – aged 18 – Natalie won both the multi-disability 50m freestyle and the multi-disability 100m freestyle in world record time, at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester. She then qualified for the 800m freestyle final - for able-bodied swimers. Although she finished last in the race, she made history by becoming the first disabled swimmer to compete in an able-bodied race at an international event. Disabled swimming had been introduced into the Commonwealth Games for the first time in the 2002 Games in Manchester.
That day, Du Toit wasn’t close to winning. But that hardly mattered. She was named outstanding athlete of the Games, beating Aussie Ia Thorpe, who had won six golds, and one silver, and set a new world record. Out of necessity, she switched to distance freestyle after the accident. But although her body and events have changed, her goals haven’t. “I have always had a dream to take part in an Olympic Games, and losing my leg didn’t change anything,” she says.
In 2003, competing against able-bodied swimmers, du Toit won gold in the 800 meters freestyle at the All-Africa Games as well as silver in the 800-meter freestyle and bronze in the 400-meter freestyle at the Afro-Asian Games.
She narrowly missed qualifying for the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004, but during the Paralympics that were held in the same city, she won one silver and five gold medals. In the same year, her courage and achievements were acknowledged with a nomination for the Laureus World Sports Awards of the Year 2004 with Disability Award. At the 2006 Commonwealth Games, she repeated her previous performance by winning the same two golds as she had in Manchester. In 2006 Natalie won six gold medals at the fourth IPC World Swimming Championships.
History was made again in 2008 when Natalie du Toit became the first-ever amputee to qualify for the Olympic Games. On 3 May 2008, she qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympics after finishing fourth in the 10 km marathon swim at the 2008 FINA World Open Water Swimming Championships in Sevilla, Spain. Her time was only 5.1 seconds off the winner in a race that made its first Olympic appearance in Beijing. She finished 16th in the Olympic 10km Open Water event. At the time she was one of only two athletes to have competed in both the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games. She also took part in the 2008 Summer Paralympics, winning 5 gold medals.
At the 2010 Commonwealth Games she won three gold medals. On 27 August 2012, just three days before the start of the 2012 Summer Paralympics, she announced her intention to retire at the end of the event.
Natalie du Toit wins Laureus Award
Wednesday, 10 March 2010
March 10 - South African swimmer Natalie du Toit (pictured) picked up the prestigious Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award for the first time in her career at a star-studded ceremony in Abu Dhabi tonight which was hosted by American actor Kevin Spacey.
Du Toit, who had her left leg amputated at the knee in 2001 after she was hit by a car, is a 10-time Paralympic gold medallist and one of only five athletes to have competed in the both Olympics and Paralympics.
The swimmer becomes only the second South African to have claimed the Laureus Disability Award after wheelchair racing great Ernst van Dyk picked up the prize in 2006.
Since the awards were established in 2000, some of the biggest names in disability sport have been awarded the Laureus Disability Award including legendary Canadian wheelchair racer Chantal Petitclerc and Dutch wheelchair tennis queen Esther Vergeer who remains the only athlete to have claimed the award twice, in 2002 and 2008.
South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) President Gideon Sam led the congratulations for du Toit as he said: "All South Africans can be proud of her spirit and her never-say-die attitude.
"She is a true inspiration to each and every athlete in this country, and the world, and we are hoping that she can build on this prestigious award as we look ahead to the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics in London.
"It is people like Natalie that provide the incentive for youngsters to aspire to greatness.
Chad hails from Westville in Natal, where he attended the Westville Boys High School, where he swam under coach Graham Hill.
In July 2009 Chad made history at the 13th FINA World Championships in Rome on Tuesday, becoming the first South African to win a medal in the five-kilometre open water swim, taking bronze.
At the Olympic Games in 2012, Chad finished 9th, and he finished 10th at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, and won the 2015FINA World Swimming Championships5 km race in Kazan, Russia.
Open Water Swimming Career
He was awarded both the South Africa Open Water Swimmer of the Year and Performance of the Year in 2011.
He was the overall series winner of the 2010FINA10K Marathon Swimming World Cup series
He is an annual star at theaQuellé Midmar Mile, winning 6 races in a row (in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2014, 2015 and 2016). He finished second in 2016 and 2018.
He has won many other open water swims in his native South Africa including theSPAR Redhouse River Mile.
Sports pundits might sooner pick Chad Ho as a rugby flanker than a swimmer. Thick-set, of average height, he lacks the prototypical torpedo shape of the aquatic racer. But Ho is no ordinary swimmer. Preferring 10km ordeals in open ocean to dashes across the pool, his game is to swimming what the Comrades is to running.
“In primary school my mom insisted I did everything,” recalls Ho, but it was only at Westville Boys’ High that he specialised in swimming. He was good in the pool, but quickly realised he had magic over the long haul.
Ho completed his first open water race at age six, and took on the Midmar Mile the next year. “From there I was hooked,” he says.
In 2004 he won the under-14 section at Midmar, and in 2005 the teenager powered to seventh in the men’s event.
He was happy to race in the middle of the field and kick late, but competitors became wary of the late-charging Ho. To avoid blocking and other roughhousing in the pack, Ho learnt to lead from the gun, watching his wake for attacks.
The new strategy and an unchanged work ethic took Ho to the Beijing Olympics in 2008, where he earned an admirable ninth place in the 10km event. At 18, he was the youngest in the field, too.
In 2009 Ho won bronze at the 5km World Championships, and announced himself as a world- beater the next year, winning the gruelling Fina Marathon Swimming World Cup Series.
Now nearing the end of a four-year plan, swimming some five hours a day, gymming once a day, and winning the past three Midmar Miles, Ho has his sights locked on the London Games. “I’m expecting a great swim,” he says. “I’ve beaten the best before, and I can do it again.”
South African-born British world champion Keri-Ann Payne - with Chad Ho.
Chad Ho won the Midmar and the Redhouse River Miles in 2011.
Cameron was a South African breaststroke sprint specialist and multi-time Olympian. Born May 25, 1988, Van Der Burgh is originally from Pretoria, where he attended Glenstantia Primary School and matriculated at Crawford College. He later studied financial management at UNISA.
He started swimming at a young age. His parents had steered their youngest into sport to channel the excess energy that had seen him diagnosed with a mild form of ADD, rather that keep him dosed up on Ritalin, which changed his personality and dampened his spirit.
When his local coach Dirk Lange left the country unexpectedly to return to his native Germany, Cameron was left with no one to oversee him on the pool deck. Cam approached an old coach of his, Francois Boshoff, who had retired to a small town. For a while, he traveled every Tuesday so he could fly down for two days to get the benefit of Francois’s technical coaching, in between doing his strength training - so important for a sprinter - in Pretoria, with his strength coach Naat Laubscher. His training partner Guilio Zorrzi won a bronze medal at the 2013 FINA World Championships, where Cameron won the gold.
Early career Van Der Burgh first broke out in 2007 when he qualified for his first World Championships and picked up a bronze medal. By 2009 he was well on his way to a World Record at the South African Nationals. Already swimming a great meet Van Der Burgh broke the World Record in semi-final of the 50-meter breaststroke, shaving some time off of a seven-year old record. In the same year he won the world title in the event in Rome, winning his first gold medal from a World Championships.
2008 Beijing Olympics Van Der Burgh qualified for the Beijing Olympics just moments after being recognized on the international scene for the first time. In Beijing he advanced to the semi-finals of the 100-meter breast, but failed to qualify for the championship final after finishing 5th in his heat. He also competed on the 4×100-meter medley relay, which finished 7th overall.
2010-2011 After breaking his first World Record Van Der Burgh took on the 2010 Commonwealth Games, where he took gold in the 50-meter breast in a new Commonwealth Games Record. Later in the year he swam at the 2010 Short Course World Championships, this time taking another world title in the 100-meter breast. At the 2011 South African National Championships, Van Der Burgh took gold in the 50-meter breast setting the world’s leading time.
2012 London Olympics After racking up a few medals in international and national competitions, Van Der Burg was prepared going into London. With the super suit era behind him, he raced to gold in the 100-meter breast after taking out the first 50 meters in a blazing split, and broke the World Record in the process.
London’s dolphin kick dilemma After picking up his first Olympic gold medal Van Der Burgh then made headlines after admitting that he had cheated in the underwater pullout part of the race. Underwater video clearly showed Van Der Burgh completed three dolphin kicks after diving into the water off the blocks. Many swimmers in the field could be seen doing the same, and controversy erupted when he mentioned that, “Everybody’s doing it … not everybody, but 99 per cent.” The controversy forced FINA to have to act on new dolphin kick regulation.
2013 World Championships After originally releasing a statement that he would miss the 2013 World Championships due to a shoulder injury, Van Der Burgh’s name was on South Africa’s World Championship Team. He competed in the meet as the current World Record holder, but was just a half second off of his best time set in London. He touched in the wall in 2nd to Christian Sprenger. A few nights later he rebounded to out-touch Sprenger for gold in the 50.
2014 awards In 2014 Van Der Burgh was one of 54 people announced as a recipient of the 2014 National Orders. He earned an Order of Ikhamanga, which “recognises South African citizens who have excelled in the fields of arts, culture, literature, music, journalism, and sport.” The award came just a few months after Van Der Burgh was an honorable mention for the 2013 Swammy Award for the Male African Swimmer of the Year.
2015 World Championships As just one of five swimmers that South Africa sent to the 2015 World Championships, Van Der Burgh was lined up to swim his two signature events. In the preliminary heats of the 50-meter breast Van Der Burgh shocked when he swam under the World Record time by just a few hundredths of a second. Although he broke the Record in the preliminaries, he couldn’t crack the time in the semi’s or finals, losing out to GBR’s up-and-comer Adam Peaty. In the 100-meter event Van Der Burgh was up once again against Peaty. The two approached the race with pretty different styles — Van Der Burgh took the race out in a nearly World Record 50-meter pace and Peaty took out the race nearly half of a second behind. Van Der Burgh couldn’t hold on the last 50 meters as Peaty had a strong finish, pushing Van Der Burgh to 2nd by just .07 seconds.
2016 Rio Olympics
In the 100 meter breaststroke, Van Der Burgh was again pitted against heavy favorite, Adam Peaty. At the halfway point, Van Der Burgh turned in second behind Peaty. Over the final stretch, it was a battle for second with Peaty a body length ahead for the gold. Van Der Burgh held on to take the silver in 58.69. He also competed in the 200 meter breaststroke, finishing 26th, and the 4×100 meter medley relay where South Africa finished 13th.
2017 World Championships
Van Der Burgh only swam the 50 meter breaststroke in Budapest after pulling out the 100. He touched home in 26.60 to take the bronze medal. He was just 0.08 behind Joao Gomes who took the silver. Peaty again won the gold medal.
2018 Commonwealth Games
Van Der Burgh set a personal best in the 50 breaststroke (26.58) en route to the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games. He also earned a bronze in the 100 breast (59.44).
2018 Short Course World Championships
On day 2 of the competition, van der Burgh touched first in the men’s 100 breast, starting with an explosive 1st 50 and hanging on to the lead through the 2nd. This was his first short course world title in the event since 2010, and his 2nd in the event overall. Moments after being crowned world champ,he announced he would be retiring after the competition. In the last swim of his career, on the last day of the meet, van der Burgh once again exploded off the blocks and never looked back, touching first in the 50 breast with a textile world record of 25.41. This was the second-fastest performance ever, overshadowed only by his world record from 2009.
Die swemmer Cameron van der Burgh het in 2010 by die Statebondspele Suid-Afrikaners se harte aangegryp. Nie net oor die twee goue medaljes wat hy in die 50 m- en 100 m-borsslag losgeswem het nie, maar ook oor die woorde “Ke nako” wat met ’n swart pen op sy handpalms geskryf was. Toe hy sy medalje op die podium ontvang, het hy sy hande triomfantelik gelig met die woorde duidelik sigbaar: “Die tyd is hier!”
Cameron was op skool ’n veelsydige sportman wat in atletiek, krieket en sokker uitgeblink het en hom eers op 16 werklik op swem toegelê het. Hy is ook die eerste Suid-Afrikaanse swemmer wat plaaslik afgerig is en daarin kon slaag om ’n wêreldrekord op te stel – dit boonop op ’n jeugdige twintig jaar. Vir hom was Ryk Neethling ’n rolmodel, en hy waardeer die ambassadeurswerk wat mense soos Ryk en Roland Schoeman vir Suid-Afrikaanse swem gedoen het. Danksy die groep swemmers was daar skielik meer borgskappe vir swemmers beskikbaar.
Die 2012 Olimpiese Spele was die tweede waaraan Cameron deelgeneem het. Ons kyk terug na sy voorbereiding vir daai Spele:
“Ek dink hierdie gaan die Spele van my lewe wees en dis waar die kaf van die koring geskei word. Al was ek teleurgesteld met my vertoning in Beijing, was dit ’n wonderlike ondervinding en Londen gaan anders wees. Hierdie keer weet ek presies wat om te verwag. Ek is op die oomblik baie gelukkig met my prestasie in die swembad, ek dink al die harde werk wat ons die afgelope paar jaar gedoen het, is besig om vrugte af te werp. Ek dink die swemmer wat dit gaan regkry om koel en kalm te bly, en op die presiese oomblik die regte ding te doen, is die een wat met die medalje sal huis toe gaan.”
Cameron het baie waardering vir sy mense wat hom al die jare ondersteun het. Veral sy ma, Beverley, wat al die rondrywerk moes doen, verdien beslis ’n groot dankie, sê hy. Sy was ook die een wat altyd nagelees het en seker gemaak het hy kry die regte voeding.
Hy sê swem verg baie harde werk, toewyding, vasbyt en ure alleen in die swembad. Maar, sê hy laggend, dit is nie so ’n slegte plek om te wees nie. Hy is ook ’n finansiële beplanner, maar vanjaar het hy so ’n bietjie afgevat en net op sy swemloopbaan gekonsentreer. Ná die Spele sal hy kyk hoe hy in die swembad gevaar het, en dan sal hy oor die toekoms besluit.
“’n Mens leer gewoonlik net uit jou foute, jy leer nie wanneer jy alles regkry nie.”
Wanneer ek misluk, besluit ek altyd ek sal die mense verkeerd bewys. Dan pas ek aan en sorg dat dit nie weer gebeur nie. Dit is daardie veggees wat ’n mens motiveer om harder te werk en so te keer dat jy weer dieselfde foute begaan.”
“’n Olimpiese medalje is elke jong sportster se droom. Sonder daardie droom sal jy nooit iets bereik nie, want dit motiveer jou om hard te werk. Sommige mense se drome word waar, ander s’n nie. Ek is gelukkig dat my droom om aan die Olimpiese Spele deel te neem waar geword het.”
*Cameron het by die 2012 Olimpiese Spele in Londen die wêreldrekord in die 100 m-borsslag gebreek in ’n tyd van 58.46 sekondes.
Swimming the very last race of his career at the 2018 FINA World Short Course Championships held in China, South African breaststroke legend Cameron van der Burgh delivered one of the fastest performances of all time to win the gold medal in the men’s 50 breast.
After winning the 100 earlier in the meet, van der Burgh announced that he would retire at the end of the competition, with only this event remaining on his individual schedule.
In the final he came through with the 2nd fastest swim in history, touching in 25.41 to lower the Championship Record of 25.63 set by Brazilian Felipe Franca da Silvain 2014. The only swim ranked ahead of it is van der Burgh’s world record of 25.25, set way back in 2009 during the super-suit era. That also makes his swim tonight a new ‘textile world record’.
Additionally, this was the South African’s first time ever successfully defending a World title and his first time winning the 50 and the 100 at the same competition (at a World Championships). He won the 50 in 2016 in Windsor, repeating that win here, and his only other SC gold medal coming into the meet was done in the 100 breast back in 2010 (where he won silver in the 50). However, he has won the 50 and 100 simultaneously at both the Commonwealth Games (2010) and the African Games (2007, 2011, 2015).
He retires with two Olympic gold medals, including that gold from the 100 breast in London, ten LC World Championship medals including two golds in the 50 breast, and now eight SC World medals including four gold. He also owns four gold and nine total Commonwealth Games medals.
The 30-year-old now owns six of the ten fastest swims in history, including the three fastest. Adding a pair of swims from all-around sprinter Roland Schoeman, South Africans are responsible for the fastest seven swims in history.
ALL-TIME PERFORMANCES, MEN’S 50 BREAST
Cameron van der Burgh(RSA), 25.25
Cameron van der Burgh(RSA), 25.41
Cameron van der Burgh(RSA), 25.43
Roland Schoeman(RSA), 25.45
Cameron van der Burgh (RSA), 25.49
Cameron van der Burgh(RSA) /Roland Schoeman(RSA), 25.58
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Fabio Scozzoli (ITA), 25.62
Cameron van der Burgh(RSA) / Felipe Franca (BRA), 25.63
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Cameron van der Burgh on ‘winning the swimming game’, his new life at a London hedge fund, and his mental health struggles
04 DECEMBER 2020
Former Olympic champion swimmer Cameron van der Burgh now works in London as a hedge fund analyst
It was at the afterparty for the Rio 2016 Olympics that the seeds of Cameron van der Burgh’s move to a London hedge fund were sown.
Days earlier, the South African had been beaten into second place in the men’s 100m breaststroke final by his great rival, Britain’s Adam Peaty.
Van der Burgh was not finished with swimming yet, but he already had one eye on a second career away from the pool, in finance.
By coincidence, also attending the Rio afterparty was celebrated hedge fund manager Pierre Andurand, once a promising swimmer himself.
Van der Burgh recalls: “We were introduced by mutual friends, through the understanding that I enjoyed financial markets and I’d heard of Pierre Andurand, because he’s a king of oil.
“We got chatting at the party, and instead of me spending the night partying Rio style, I was talking markets and finance with one of the legends of the game.”
How Van der Burgh ended up at a hedge fund
Van der Burgh had first taken an interest in business as a schoolboy, when he and three friends won a nationwide virtual trading competition.
“When I look back, we knew nothing. But we won and that competitive edge in me from swimming just really enjoyed the trading,” he says.
When his swimming career took off, he reserved 10 per cent of his earnings to make “educated guesses” on the real-life markets.
He studied a business degree while rising to the top of his sport, winning Olympic gold in London in 2012.
And when he decided to hang up the Speedos six years later, his thoughts turned back to the same city.
Van der Burgh made contact with Andurand, who invited him to his hedge fund’s Knightsbridge offices.
“I didn’t know I was being interviewed but I was,” he laughs. “Then when I got back to South Africa there was an offer on the door.”
London has been the city of my life’
Van der Burgh’s focus as an analyst at Andurand Capital is on climate and energy, “the kind of stuff that gets me up in the morning and gets me super-excited”.
The commodity-focused hedge fund has had a bumper 2020, after betting against the price of oil early in the pandemic.
“I sort of had my Olympics this year because our hedge fund is the best performing in Europe at the moment,” he says.
Away from work, Van der Burgh and wife Nefeli Valakelis welcomed a baby boy, Harry, into the family in September.
They live in Fulham, 5,000 miles north of his native Pretoria but just a short journey from the scene of his Olympic success.
“At that time [2012] the thought never crossed my mind to come to London but it’s definitely been the city of my life,” he says.
Rivalry and friendship with Peaty
As a swimmer, Van der Burgh did it all: Olympic champion, six world titles, four-time Commonwealth champion, multiple world records.
He won the 50m and 100m breaststroke double at every African Games from 2007 to 2015. He won the shorter distance at three consecutive Commonwealth Games. And he once went 24 races unbeaten.
The emergence of Peaty, who grew up idolising Van der Burgh, ended his dominance.
Peaty took his 100m breaststroke title at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and did the same at the next two major championships, culminating in Rio 2016.
Van der Burgh won Olympic gold in the men’s 100m breaststroke at London 2012
He replaced Van der Burgh as the man to beat over 50m too, until the tables were turned at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. It was Peaty’s first defeat over that distance for four years.
“The years that I was winning all the time were a lot of fun, of course. But you don’t have as strong experiences,” he says.
“When Adam and I were really going at each other at a top level of performance, competitively it was amazing.
“You elevate yourself when you have somebody to push against. Sporting rivalries are what stories and memories are built on.”
Van de Burgh’s rivalry with Peaty was fiercely contested but always good natured, and the pair remain firm friends.
“He and I had baby boys a week apart, so we’ve been chatting and sharing photos every now and then of how cute they look and how they’re keeping us up at night,” he says.
How swimming helped Van der Burgh manage ADHD
A swimming champion turned financial hot-shot sounds like an alpha male caricature, but Van der Burgh is far from it.
With disarming honesty and sincerity he details his own mental health challenges and how they have informed his work with sport foundation Laureus.
As a child he was diagnosed with ADHD, was introverted and lacked confidence. Swimming proved not only an outlet but a remedy and proved personally transformative.
Those unwelcome feelings linger, however, exacerbated by lockdown conditions which have placed extra strain on home lives and shut off his usual outlet, the pool.
“The hard part is mentally. It’s difficult to delineate the difference between when I finish working and when my personal life starts,” he says.
South African Van der Burgh now works with sports foundation Laureus (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images for Laureus)
“Sometimes you’ll be having a bad day. I’ll step off my desk and five seconds later I’m in the living room with my wife. You’re not physically there because you’re thinking about something else.
“I’ve now decided that when I switch off, I switch off. I put the computer away. And then my wife and I go for 30-minute walk.
“That period allows me to have a break and distinguish what’s work and what’s play, and that’s helped. A lot of people suffer with that and I suffer with that a lot. It’s very difficult.”
South African Van der Burgh now works with sports foundation Laureus
‘Sometimes maybe I’m not a nice guy to be around’
Van der Burgh loves walking by the river – “water is part of life for me” – and, in the absence of swimming pools, took up running.
He runs for around 40 minutes each morning, longer at weekends, but is no elite athlete on land, he admits.
“I look like a proper fish out of water running down by the Thames. Often I’ll see young girls or old men flying past me and I feel a little bit silly. But it’s something that I need to do.”
Van der Burgh and Britain’s Adam Peaty enjoyed a fierce rivalry but remain good friends
The exercise makes Van der Burgh “calm and relaxed. I don’t get aggressive, I don’t get as irritated and I can be a kind human being.
“Sometimes I get irritated quickly and maybe I’m not a nice guy to be around for my wife or co-workers. So it’s something that it’s really important for me to focus on every day.”
This week he shared his first-hand experience by speaking at a Laureus event focused on mental health and wellbeing.
“It’s all about trying to convey that you can change and give yourself a better life,” he says.
‘I played and won the swimming game’
Van der Burgh concedes that he misses the competitive thrill of swimming and is considering taking part in veterans’ competitions.
“Not that I’m coming for Adam Peaty or anything,” he laughs. “But maybe I’ll come break some masters world records in the process. That would be a lot of fun.”
The ISL consulted Van der Burgh on the show format before its launch. But his new career precluded any further collaboration – in or out of the pool.
“They did mention coming out [of retirement] for a sneaky 50m but after this year, the guys are swimming incredibly well, so I think maybe I timed my departure very well.
“I got all the golds and world records I could, so I’m very happy with the way I left off. I think it was the right time for me.
“While I do miss the competitive spirit of it, I’m extremely happy in my new career and what I’m doing. I feel like I’m growing.
“You play different games in life. I’ve played and won the swimming game, I’m happy and it was time to step off. I’m playing the family game now and hopefully trying to win at that.”
Cameron van der Burgh spoke at the Laureus Sport for Good Mental Health and Wellbeing through Sport Forum, presented by EACT Jockey Club Active Community Programme, on Thursday. The online event focused on the mental and emotional problems young people face, and explored how to help them cope with various challenges through physical development and exercise.
Olympics gold medallist and Laureus Ambassador Cameron van der Burgh paid a visit to the Hounslow Swimming Club to see the fantastic work being carried out to provide children and young people with access and opportunity in the pool.
13 Jul 2022
3 Jul 2018 - Cameron van der Burgh married his longtime partner, Nefeli Valakelis in Anavyssos, Greece
Gerhard was born in Pretoria on 23 April 1983, where he attended Crawford College with fellow Olympians Cameron van der Berg, Jarred Crous, Michael Meyer, Michelle Weber, and Dylan Bosch. He also swam for the Northern Tigers at the South African championships, and the University of Pretoria. He was coached by Gerhard van der Walt.
Zandberg also took a gold medal as a part of the South African 400 free relay at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
In the 2007 World Championships Gerhard won the 50 m backstroke, winning the race in 24:98. He won bronzes in the same race at the 2003, 2009, and 2011 World Championships. In 2009 he swum the race in 24:34, which was still the SA record in 2018.
In 2007 Gerhard was the national swimming squad captain. He was awarded the Personality of the Year and Swimmer of the Year awards as athletes, coaches, and officials were honoured at Swimming SA's Annual Aquatics Awards.
By 2013 he had retired from official competition, due to a dispute with Swimming South Africa.
Between 2014 - 2016 he swam in the Raia Rapida with Roland Schoeman, Cameron van der Burg, Brad Tandy, Douglas Erasmus, and Giulio Zorzi. He made a comeback in 2018, swimming at the 2018 South African Short Course National Championships in Durban, winning two medals.
Today Gerhard is the founder and head coach of Vikings Race Club in Pretoria, SA. He hosts coaching clinics in various locations around southern Africa.
Goue Gerhard Zandberg: Spoedvraat van formaat
17 December 2007
Daar’s sowat 2,5 sekondes tussen Gerhard Zandberg en Olimpiese roem. Hy het immers al dié soort sukses geproe toe hy verlede jaar in Melbourne, Australië, by die Wêreldkampioenskapsbyeenkoms die 50 m-rugslag gewen het. Kyk jy hom so, lyk dit byna onmoontlik dat so ’n jong “reus” – wat oor die 2 m in sy sokkies staan en 105 kg weeg – daardie 50 m in 22,18 sekondes kon aflê.
Sy wêreldtitel het heeltemal onverwags gekom, want hy het hom eintlik vir die vryslag voorberei. Hy het daardie dag in Melbourne nie baie lekker gevoel nie, maar hom tog vir die 50 m-rugslag ingeskryf. En toe hy die kant van die swembad raak en pandemonium losbars, het hy geweet . . . sukses proe nóg soeter as jy dit nie verwag nie.
Verlede jaar is hy ook deur Swem SA aangewys as Swemmer, Swemvonds én Swempersoonlikheid van die Jaar. Reeds as tjokker het hy sy pa se besproeiingsdam op Brits in die Noordwes-provinsie maklik ’n paar keer ná mekaar deurgeswem. Sy swemjuffrou het tóé al voorspel hy het groot talent. Maar talent is nie ál wat van Suid-Afrika se swemkaptein ’n wenner maak nie.
Sy geheim is: Hy weet wat hy wil hê en hoe om dit te bereik. Hy het fisiek en emosioneel hard gewerk aan sy sukses. Dié dat hy doodkalm kan wees voor die skoot klap. Hy weet mos hy’t alles ín hom om eerste te wees.
Jy lewer motiveringspraatjies? Net op aanvraag en verkieslik voor jong mense. Ek kan beter met jonger mense identifiseer.
Het jy dan self ’n inspirerende verhaal? Nadat ek gematrikuleer het, wou ek met my swemloopbaan voortgaan en self my pad vorentoe finansier. My ouers het my gehelp om ’n bakkie te koop en ek het sonder ’n helper tonne bourommel per dag weggery. Ek kon dit net drie dae per week doen sodat ek die res kon oefen. Ek het baie hard gewerk om genoeg geld bymekaar te maak om in Arizona, Amerika, te gaan swem en studeer. Ek het ’n beurs gekry, maar die vliegkaartjie was buitensporig duur. Ek was nog nooit spyt oor die harde werk nie en leer dié soort motivering nou vir die jong swemmers in my swemskool. Jy moet hard werk vir jou drome.
Hoe dissiplineer jy jouself? Swem is ’n tydsame en eensame sport waarin jy nooit die toppunt sal bereik sonder ongelooflike toewyding nie. Jou doelwitte kan tot twee jaar ver wees en jy kan 600 swemsessies insit om dit te bereik. Dit kan maklik jou motivering ontspoor, maar my afrigter gee my korttermyn-mylpale wat bereikbaar is sodat dit nie my moed breek nie.
Hoe berei jy jou emosioneel voor op die Spele? Ek weet hoe uitputtend emosionele spanning kan wees. Ek probeer so gefokus moontlik bly op my doelwitte. Jou denke het ’n groot impak op jou prestasies. As jy te veel druk op jouself plaas, benadeel dit jou. Ek is nie ’n voorstander van oormatige positiewe denke nie. Die gevaar is dat jy negatiewe denke net ’n positiewe vetlagie kan gee. Ek probeer my emosies so neutraal moontlik hou en met my normale dinge aangaan so lank as wat ek kan. Ek sorg dat ek vertroue in my vermoë het.
Wanneer is jou groot datum? Ek swem op 9 Augustus in die eerste uitdunne van die 100 m-rugslag (daar is nie ’n Olimpiese item vir die 50 m-rugslag nie).
Wat doen jy voor jy wegspring? Dit verskil van swemmer tot swemmer. Ek verkies om nie op te warm nie. Ek trek ’n uur voor die tyd tot vyf lae klere aan en neem gereeld slukkies water en koffie. As ek begin sweet, weet ek my liggaam is gereed. Dan trek ek my swembroek aan en sorg dat ek warm bly tot ek agter die blokke gaan staan. Ek sit eenkant en luister na lekker ritmiese musiek op my oorfone terwyl die ander opwarm. Baie swemmers vind my gedrag vreemd en senutergend. Hulle weet dan nie wat om te verwag nie!
Jy is 25. Kry jy kans om net jonk te wees? Verseker, ja! My vriende kuier graag by plekke soos Menlyn Square en ek is nie ’n drip nie. Dis vir my belangrik om ’n gesonde balans te handhaaf.
Het jy ’n vaste meisie? Ongelukkig nie. Omdat ek so baie weg is, plaas dit net te veel druk op my verhoudings.
Jy is lief vir motorfietse en motors? Ek het twee motorfietse en twee motors. Ek het in 2005 baie hard geval met my padfiets. ’n Waaghalsige toertjie teen 120 km/h het lelik skeefgeloop en my enigste buffer was ’n kortbroek en T-hemp. Dit was onverantwoordelik en ek gaan nie bieg waar dit gebeur het nie. Ek het niks gebreek nie, maar al my nerwe afgeval. Ek het nou ’n veldfiets en ’n kleiner padfiets vir die stad. Ek is mal oor my Renault Mégane RS. Hy is een van net 1 500 van dié spesifieke model wat wêreldwyd gemaak is nadat Renault in 2005 die Formule 1-Wêreldkampioenskap gewen het. My ander liefde is my Land Rover Defender.
Mal oor spoed? Net so toegewyd soos ek aan my sport is, so onverantwoordelik is ek oor spoed. Ek het baie spoedboetes, want ek geniet spoed en doen dit voluit.
Nog ’n groot liefde? Die Bosveld. Maar ek het nog nie planne om ’n Bosveldplaas te koop nie. Ek probeer eers belê in bates wat inkomste genereer sodat ek eendag op ’n plaas kan bly en nie hoef te werk nie.
Is daar genoeg geld in swem om te oorleef? Ongelukkig nie in Suid-Afrika nie. In Australië kan swemmers byna ’n normale bestaan handhaaf met die ondersteuning van hul borge. Jy word net genooi om in Europa teen vergoeding deel te neem as jy die héél beste is. Die tweede plek tel nie. Die feit dat ek laasjaar die wêreldkampioen was, het ’n verskil gemaak. Organiseerders in Europa betaal my nou ’n appearance fee om te gaan deelneem, en wanneer ek wen, betaal hulle in euros.
Het jy ook ander sakebelange? Die swemskool het met ’n groepie huisvroue begin en nou het ek al nege groepe swemmers per week. Ek het ook in Januarie vanjaar ’n gastehuis in Waterkloof begin. Dit het vyfster-status net-net gemis. My ma, Aloma, en suster, Anke, bestuur dit vir my.
Nog sake-drome? Ek wil eendag ’n unieke restaurant oopmaak met ’n persoonlike atmosfeer. Ek het ’n passie vir kosmaak.
Studeer jy ook? Ek het besluit om nie te gaan studeer nie omdat ek so lank as moontlik wil swem. Dit sou te veel druk op my plaas. Toe ek in 2005 met ’n swem- en studiebeurs na Arizona was, het ek meganiese ingenieurswese gestudeer. Ná 10 maande wou ek my studies los om voluit te swem. Ek kan altyd later verder studeer.
Wie inspireer jou? Mense soos Natalie du Toit. Kort ná die ongeluk waarin sy haar been verloor het, het ek haar by ’n byeenkoms gesien. Sy het nie afgekyk of haar lip op die grond gesleep nie. Sy het aangegaan en sukses behaal. Sy het ál die kwaliteite wat ’n mens moet hê om ’n wenner te wees.
Het jý daardie kwaliteite? Ek sou graag so wil dink. Dis ’n uitdaging om te alle tye só gefokus te bly. Emosies speel ’n geweldige rol en dis dán wanneer jy ’n honger na oorwinning moet wys.
WINDHOEK – About 35 swimmers from across Namibia and South Africa attended this year's Gerhard Zandberg training camp which was held in the coastal town of Swakopmund from 3 to 7 January.
Lyndon Ferns, Roland Schoeman, Ryk Neethling and Gerhard Zandberg celebrate on the podium after winning the gold medal in the Men's 4x100m freestyle relay final at the 2006 Commonwealth Games
Zandberg in deep end with SSA
2013-08-06
SA swimming star Gerhard Zandberg was handed a R50 000 cash fine and a year's community service – you’d think we had a criminal on our hands.
Instead, it’s just another SA sportsperson feeling the brunt of a bully administration who have little regard for due process.
SA Olympic swimmer, Zandberg is a “broken man” after being severely punished for breaking team rules during the FINA World Championships in Barcelona.
The story broke that Zandberg had been hauled before a Swim SA (SSA) disciplinary hearing because he had switched hotel rooms to be with his girlfriend.
But according to a couple of sources, Zandberg had asked a number of SSA officials six days before his race if he could please move as his “roomie”, Cameron van der Burgh had a head cold (which was reported in the media) and he was battling to sleep.
Four days after his request, SSA had not come back to him.
So, two days before his race (last Thursday) and not being able to sleep, he had little choice but to move to his own room, which he paid for himself.
His girlfriend, Linda, joined him in the room.
When SSA management got wind of the move, Zandberg received a WhatsApp message from the team manager at around 22:30 on the Friday night, asking him to meet with him to discuss some issues.
Zandberg didn’t respond to the message in time and the meeting was re-scheduled for after lunch on the Saturday after his heat.
Once again, no mention of a disciplinary hearing.
The disciplinary proceedings finished at 16:30 (30 minutes before he had to leave for the pool to swim the semi-finals).
SSA claimed it was his second breach after criticizing team management on social media earlier in the week.
The combined punishment for the swimmer:
1. R50 000 cash fine (later reduced to R5 000) 2. 2-year ban from swimming 3. 1-year community service for SwimSA 4. Immediate scratching from all World Cup events
Zandberg already does a lot for charity and the community along with his coaching, “Learn to Swim”.
How can it be so harsh and were the rights of the swimmer compromised?
For the record, Zandberg, who also didn’t receive SA team kit, slipped at the start of his semi and failed to make the final.
He didn’t make any excuses for missing out but can you imagine what was weighing on his mind.
I emailed SSA CEO, Shaun Adriaanse asking him for some clarification on the following:
Who did the disciplinary panel consist of, is the punishment in line with the SSA constitution and is the SSA constitution signed?
No response from the CEO.
There has been growing speculation that the SSA constitution is not signed as it does not comply with FINA requirements.
It is also the second time within a week that Adriaanse had failed to respond to an email of mine.
Earlier, I had asked him if SSA had paid for any journalist to attend any championship/event in the last five years?
No response.
It has become a trend for bigger sporting codes to pay for journalists to attend events and I am still of the opinion, it is difficult for some to write objectively and “spill the beans” when they are being wined and dined by officials.
SSA is also forever crying poverty but that didn’t stop the CEO from going to Barcelona.
What role did Adriaanse serve when there was already a team manager?
SSA is always looking for handouts but it’s time they took a good look at themselves and ask why Telkom withdrew their sponsorship.
R2.7 million was given to SSA by the sports ministry for the world champs. Why then did Zandberg have to pay his own way?
Although, SSA have promised to reimburse his flights.
Swimmers had to contribute R3 000 each for the last World Championships in Shanghai (in 2011) and when some questioned why they had to contribute for a fully funded tour, they were told “to be grateful that the rest of the funding was supplied by the federation and not to ask any questions, just be grateful that it wasn't more.”
Meanwhile, the disabled swimmers questioning whether or not, they are getting a fair deal as they head for their championships in Montreal. The able bodied swimmers spent almost two weeks in Europe to acclimatise whilst the disabled swimmers leave on August 7 with a layover in the London for 11 hours then fly to Montreal.
Three days later, some have to swim at the World Champs in their main events.
As one high performance coach put it: “There is almost no time difference between SA and Spain, whereas for the disabled swimmers, it’s almost seven hours. One needs at least a day for every hour to acclimatise and SSA knows this. I tell you it’s discrimination and they can say what they want.”
There has been strong support for Zandberg on twitter:
Former SA swimmer, Kathryn Meaklim tweeted: @ZandbergGerhard it's things like this that make a person glad to have stopped swimming & stay that way. Outrage! Keep ur head high captain.
Media analyst, Lance Rothschild: Fire SwimSA CEO Shaun Adriaanse. Put the athletes first.
Don’t hold your breath.
Sadly, SSA is well protected as the president of SSA, Jace Naidoo is also a Sascoc board member...
A defining moment in the lives of these four men. The South African squad of Roland Schoeman (split 48:38), Lyndon Ferns (48:34), Darian Townsend (49:13) and Ryk Neethling(47:99) - clocked 3 minutes and 13.17 seconds to triumph over the Netherlands (2nd) and the US team (3rd).
Darian Roy Townsend was born on 28 August 1984 in Pinetown. Unlike his teammates in 2004, his was a thoroughly English upbringing in Pietermaritzburg. He attended Merchiston Preparatory School and matriculated from Maritzburg College in 2002. He swam with coach Wayne Riddin at the Seals Swimming Club in Pietermaritzburg.
He swam for South Africa at three Olympic Games from 2004 - 2012. The highlight of his Olympic swimming career was the men's relay at the 2004 Athens Games, where he was the Englishman amongst the Afrikaners from Bloemfontein, Pietersburg, and Pretoria.
After school, he took up a scholarship to swim at the University of Arizona, where he joined Lyndon Ferns, Ryk Neethling, and Roland Schoeman. He became a U.S. citizen during the summer of 2014 and has subsequently represented the United States in international events. Since becoming a citizen Townsend has represented the USA in the 2014 Short Course World Championships, the 2015 Aquatic Super Series, as well as at the 2015 Pan American Games
Darian retired from competitive swimming in 2017, although he did swim in the 2017 Midmar Mile. About the race, he says: "It’s all about having fun. I started coming when I was six years old. I love it here. "
He is now Head Coach of the YMCA West Side Silver Fins and as the Senior Aquatics Director for the Southwest Valley Family YMCA in Phoenix, Arizona.
During his collegiate career at the University of Florida and the University of Arizona, Townsend was a five-time NCAA Relay Champion and a two-time individual NCAA champion in the 200 FR (2007) and 200 IM (2008).
Darian continues to train and race in Master’s Swimming, holding more than 25 Master’s World Records. In 2018 for the third time in his career, Darian Townsend was named one of Swimming World’s Top 12 World Masters Swimmers of the Year, having also been recognized in 2014 and 2016.
“Making the decision to retire from professional swimming is not an easy one. Ever since I was 12 years old, my passion has been to compete at the highest level. I did that for over 15 years and I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it. Swimming has given me so much. I have traveled the world, made many lifelong friends, received an education, and met my soul mate. I could not have asked for more. I feel it is now time to switch my focus to educating and training the swimmers of the future.
I’d like to thank all the coaches I have worked with in my career, firstly for being so patient and secondly for caring. Without your passion and belief in me, I would never have achieved the things I did.
To my family; Mom, Dad, Cheryl, and Claire. Thank you for understanding and supporting me through all the ups and downs. Having you guys as my support team helped me more than you’ll ever know.
Roland, Lyndon, and Ryk. What we achieved in Athens in 2004 was really special and I will relive those incredible scenes in my head for the rest of my life. Thank you for being my brothers.”
Darian Townsend: Life of a Professional International Athlete
Feature by Elle Meinholz, Swimming World internship
May 7, 2013
Just like many young competitive swimmers, South African Olympic Gold Medallist Darian Townsend dreamed of continuing his swimming career in college. Unlike these swimmers who grow up and move miles away from home to swim as college athletes, Townsend wound up in an entirely different country as he moved to the United States to further his education and continue pursuing his passion for the sport of swimming.
From a swimming family, Townsend started swimming at a young age. Despite encouragement from his parents to try other sports, Townsend enjoyed swimming the most, and has stuck with it.
"It was the logical and natural thing for me to do," Townsend said. "Just being in the water for me is just so much fun. When I get into the water, it's the same every time, and I just love it. Water is where I kind of feel is the best place for me to be."
Townsend came from a club team that sent a lot of swimmers overseas to swim, particularly in the American college system. Motivated by previous South African success stories, American college swimming became a huge goal for Townsend in his early teens.
"Just seeing swimmers that went over to the U.S. and did so well at the Olympics and World Champs and in the college system was kind of my motivating factor to get myself over there and be like them," said Townsend.
Transitioning from a South African swimmer to a South African representative training in the U.S. has had its challenges for Townsend. In college, Townsend was united with his American team by group goals as an Arizona Wildcat.
"It was really nice to be a part of a group that had a single goal in mind" said Townsend.
Now training as a post-graduate as part of Tucson Ford, Townsend's goals are no longer shared by a team.
"Since I finished with college there is no longer a group goal we are all heading towards. I was training for something completely different than the college kids."
Another significant transition for Townsend was from a very sprint-oriented and technique based program to one of high volume yardage and intense dryland work.
"When I came to the U.S. my training dramatically increased in the yardage, and also in the gym. I wasn't used to doing two weight sessions a week and dryland on top of that, and like I said, more yardage."
Although the transition was tough initially, Townsend believes that the way he trained in South Africa before moving to the U.S. has allowed him to really excel in the U.S. and have a long and successful career.
"My coach was very big on good technique and that is something that I have carried throughout my career. I have been blessed to have an injury free career up to this point, and I think that has a lot to do with good technique and being taught good technique at a young age."
Being from a sprint-oriented program has also allowed Townsend to build up his volume and intensity throughout his career.
"Right now even when I am 28 years old, I am probably training more now than when I was 18, 19 years old. I think that has a lot to do with the reason why I have had such a long swimming career, because I wasn't doing high yardage as a 13, 14 year old."
Now a sponsored athlete by A3 Performance, Townsend enjoys his life in Tucson.
"I get to train with some of the best swimmers in the world here at the U of A. We have a good, healthy post-grad group as well as a phenomenal college team."
In addition to training, Townsend is also coaching at Tucson Ford.
"I will finish my practice with U of A and then jump out of the water and straight on to the deck for two hours of Ford Practice."
As Townsend has progressed in his swimming career, his level of responsibility has definitely grown.
"There is a responsibility with it, but it's a huge honor," said Townsend. "I'm just grateful for the opportunities that have come my way, and you know it's not easy, especially as a swimmer, to get a sponsor. It's not a sport where you get a lot of face time on television. For a company to want to sponsor an athlete like that, it really says something about that athlete, and, like I said, it's a huge honor."
Still improving in the pool, Townsend recently won the 200 IM at the Arena Grand Prix in Mesa ahead of Ryan Lochte. What can we expect from Townsend moving forward?
"I definitely think Rio 2016 is in the cards. That's the long term goal" said Townsend. "Short term goals, I plan to race in the World Cup series, and race the 200 free more, shooting for that short course world record."
Rio 2016 would be Townsend's fourth Olympic Games. In a sport like swimming, there are bound to be disappointments and frustrations. The reason why Townsend has made it this far is the mindset of "hard work and never give up. Every season has ups and downs. It's learning to persevere through those ups and downs. It's learning to swim when the odds are not really in your favor."
Townsend has been active and extremely competitive in the sport for a long time now. In a sport so demanding, one may wonder how a swimmer stays so motivated and determined, but for Townsend, it's easy.
"I love swimming, I love training, and I love racing people, so I will do that for as long as I can. You only have one swimming career and you are only young once. I am going to try to do it for as long as I can and if I am still successful at it, I am going to keep doing it."
Natural born swimmer
Pietermaritzburg’s Olympic gold medallist is looking to increase his haul in Beijing.
American-based South African Olympic gold medallist Darian Townsend is at a crossroads in his swimming career. His second Olympic Games are a few months away and he has to prove to the world that he is a professional swimmer. It isn’t an easy job. “Unless you’re Michael Phelps, who is the best swimmer in the world, you don’t get publicity,” says Townsend (23). Getting publicity means sponsorship deals, which a professional sportsperson depends on to turn a passion into a career.
We are sitting beside the pool at Townsend’s parents’ house in Montrose in which he took his first strokes as a natural born swimmer. “Coming from a swimming family, I took to the water at 18 months,” he says, smiling at his parents Ted and Rita. They both finished first in their age groups in this year’s Midmar Mile and their daughter Cheryl is on a scholarship swimming in the United States.
Townsend was born on August 28, 1984, in Pinetown and moved with his family to Pietermaritzburg shortly afterwards. He went to Northern Park Primary, Merchiston and then Maritzburg College, getting his matric certificate in 2002. Throughout his school days, though, the one thing that kept him motivated and in high spirits was swimming.
“I joined my mum’s swimming classes in this very pool,” he says. “But my parents soon realised that I needed to start training professionally and so when I was seven I joined the Pietermaritzburg Seals Swimming Club as a club night swimmer.” He then moved on to Wayne Riddin’s swim squad, beginning his career for the Seals.
In 2003, Townsend decided to take a gap year and trained with French coach Fred Vernoux. “I went to France to do further training and then swam for South Africa at the 2003 Barcelona World Championships. It was the first time that the four swimmers who won gold at the Athens Olympics in 2004 [Townsend, Roeland Schoeman, Ryk Neethling and Lyndon Ferns] swam together, which was a great experience.”
He returned to South Africa, where he trained under Graham Hill in Pinetown. “It was a very good experience because I was able to cross train with cycling, which I really enjoyed.” Hill, the coach of Terrence Parkin who won silver at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, encouraged cross training with cycling and so Townsend went about on a bicycle for 60 kilometres a day at the height of his training for Athens 2004. That’s how he found himself tackling the gruelling Amashovashova cycle race from Pietermaritzburg to Durban.
It only hit Townsend when he reached the final of the men’s 4×100 metre freestyle relay with Schoeman, Neethling and Ferns at the Athens Olympics in August 2004 that he was about to be part of something special. “It was such a happy moment for all of us,” he said, his Olympic gold medal slightly worn from all the people who have oozed over it.
“The Olympics came when I was 19, which is very young,” he says. “This had good and bad repercussions.
“The good would be that you can never lose your Olympic gold from your name,” he says. “The bad part of it, however, is that I was still growing and having this medal puts a lot of pressure on you. Everyone who competes against you says, ‘show me what you’ve got that makes you so special’.”
After breaking the world record and getting gold, Townsend began making a name for himself in American waters, but it didn’t start off very easily.
In 2005, Townsend got a full scholarship to Florida University where he began studying sociology. Being away from his family for such a long period was not an easy transition and the first two years were tough. “I didn’t get on with the head coach and I didn’t find his programme very helpful, which showed in races,” he says. “But it took me a while to realise this. At first I thought I wasn’t good enough.”
The coach believed in long-distance swimming training and pushed his swimmers throughout the year without a break. “He used fear as a tactic, which for me just didn’t work.”
But although he was struggling, Townsend wasn’t out of the equation yet. In March 2005 at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), his Florida team won gold and broke the record in their 4×200 metre freestyle relay. “That competition is actually much more difficult than the Olympics,” Townsend says. “One thousand two hundred universities take part and it is hard just qualifying.”
But Townsend was fed up at Florida and when Arizona University head coach Frank Busch offered him a place there in 2006, he was on the first plane out of Florida. “All the four relay guys from Athens were at Arizona, so you can imagine the feeling of being there,” he says. “We could talk and hang out with each other, which I really enjoyed.”
The coaching was also a relief. “They are so much more relaxed there and develop you as a person rather than a swimming machine.”
Townsend said he had never really taken much interest in his diet, but Schoeman influenced him a lot. “He taught me how to cook and, more importantly, how to cook leaving fatty foods out. We eat a lot of pasta and low-fat meats,” he says.
In 2006 Townsend was selected for the South African team to compete at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, but it was the following year in which he truly came into his own as a swimmer. At 22, he got gold in the 200 yard freestyle finals at the NCAA and his relay team broke the record his team at Florida had set the year before, also winning gold. This year he again got gold at the NCAA in the 200 yard individual medley race.
“I have really enjoyed swimming for Arizona,” he says. “I have been able to travel all over the country and see the different cultures in the United States. But, as one of the conditions of my scholarship, I can’t be part of the team next year and have to focus on completing my degree, so I will have to find another team to swim for.”
In his time off, Townsend spends time with his girlfriend Ashley, who is a cheerleader for the Arizona University football team. “We enjoy relaxing together, watching movies, playing pool — you know, the normal stuff,” he says. “But I can’t sit in the house doing nothing all day. I have to get out and do something active at least once a day.”
Townsend has just finished a successful competition in Durban at the South African National Championships, which were also Olympic qualifiers. Townsend qualified in the 200 metre individual medley and in so doing broke the South African record in a time of 2:01,05.
Back in the U.S., Townsend will be returning to a stringent training schedule ahead of the Chinese Olympic Games. He trains four to five hours a day, with a one-and-a-half hour workout in the pool, a dry land workout and another two hours in the pool in the afternoon. “I have a couple of meets in California and Arizona before the Olympics, which will help to improve my times,” he says. “I am currently fifth in the six-man squad for the South African relay team and so need to up my time to make it into the four-man team — we will have a time trial just before the finals in China. Luckily, I’ll be peaking at the right time again.”
Townsend says he can’t wait to be back at the Olympic Village set-up. “Having all the great athletes from around the world in one place at one time is amazing,” he says, “Just walking around the food court is awesome, because you bump into people you once idolised.”
But the Olympics are about more than just doing well for South Africa. Townsend needs to win gold to be recognised by sponsors. “I am expecting to drop a few seconds off my time,” he says. “Swimming is not seen as a glamorous sport and sponsorships don’t come easy.”
Townsend says he will peak as a swimmer in a few years’ time. “Give me a few years and I will be swimming the times,” he says. “Luckily, I have my parents in the background, who are always helping me out financially, because at the moment there is no one else.”
For Townsend, the 2008 Olympics could not have come at a better time. “I love being a swimmer. Some people work hard in the office and I work hard in the pool,” he says. “I love testing my body as a swimmer – it just makes me feel special.”
During his competitive swimming days, Darian Townsend never shied away from a challenge.
His hard work and dedication resulted in Olympic gold as well as several other international medals for both his birth country, South Africa, and his newly adopted country, the United States.
But even with all of those accolades, nothing prepared him for his current challenge: fatherhood.
“My life outside of the pool has changed dramatically and for the good,” he said. “I got married to my wife, Claire, in April 2017, and we now have a 3-month-old baby girl named Ella. Being a Dad is amazing, but at the same time challenging me in ways I am still getting used to.”
In addition to his new roles as husband and father, Townsend remains involved with the sport he’s loved since he was a young boy to lead the YMCA Westside Silver Fins Swim and Dive Team in Goodyear, Ariz., as the head coach.
He oversees the day-to-day operations of the swim club as well as coaches the elite swimmers.
He said while his time since retiring from professional swimming in early 2017 has been good, it’s taken him a while to get used to not always being in the mindset of a competitive swimmer.
“I find myself still thinking about when my next practice is and having my body ready for that practice,” he said. “When you've done something for 28 years, I guess it's hard to change the way you think.”
Townsend said his decision to retire was based on several things. For one, he had reached the point where he was tired all the time and needed a long break from the day-to-day schedule he had been following for years.
Finances were also a big part of his decision, as he and Claire wanted to buy a house and start a family so getting a full-time job was a necessity.
And then, with that full-time job, training as much as he would need to remain competitive at the highest level became tough, so something ultimately had to give – but he hasn’t given up swimming altogether.
“I am still competing on the Masters circuit, although not as much as I'd like,” he said. “Swimming is still my favorite form of exercise, and I try to get in the water as often as possible. I feel staying in touch with the water keeps me more in touch with the sport and helps me to be a better coach for my swimmers.”
Townsend’s introduction to swimming came from both of his parents having been swimmers growing up. They both still compete in open water events in South Africa and love the sport – so it was inevitable that he would also love the sport growing up around a swimming pool and joining his first club at age 7.
For him, swimming was the one sport where he felt he had total control of himself. He enjoyed playing team sports, but when he was swimming, he said he felt he could control his destiny.
It was that feeling that kept him coming back to the pool every day.
“When I got a little older, I realized what I could do with the sport,” he said. “I realized I could travel, get an education, make money and meet friends, and so I became obsessed with becoming the best swimmer I could.
“There were times when I took the sport maybe too seriously, but I was lucky to have a family that helped me through those times and kept me grounded.”
His first real memories of the Olympics were the 1996 Atlanta Games when he watched on TV from South Africa and was amazed at how fast the swimmers were.
Darian Townsend named head coach &CEO of Phoenix Swim Club
Olympic gold medalistDarian Townsendhas been named the new head coach and CEO of the Phoenix Swim Club, theteam announced Tuesday.
Townsend, who will assume his new role on October 4, previously served as the head coach and president of the Westside Silver Fins since 2017, and was also named an assistant coach at Ottawa University in Surprise, Arizona (OUAZ) in November 2019.
In September 2020, he was promoted to head coach at OUAZ, keeping his role with the Silver Fins at the same time.
In April, Garrett McCaffreystepped down as head coach of Phoenix Swim Club after nearly a decade with the team.McCaffrey went on to join Seattle U as an assistant coach.
Townsend represented South Africa at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, swimming the third leg on the gold medal-winning men’s 4×100 freestyle relay team that broke the world record in a time of 3:13.17. The quartet also includedRoland Schoeman, Lyndon Fernsand Ryk Neethling.
Townsend would go on to swim for South Africa at the Olympic Games in 2008 and 2012 as well, and also broke the world record in the short course meter 200 IM in 2009 (1:51.55).
After earning U.S. citizenship in 2014, Townsend represented the United States at multiple international meets, including the 2014 SC World Championships and the 2015 Pan American Games, winning a pair of relay medals in the latter.
Also the owner of several Masters world records, the now-37-year-old won one gold and three silver medals at the 2017 Masters World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
As a collegiate swimmer, Townsend swam at both the University of Florida and the University of Arizona, winning a total of two individual and five relay NCAA titles, plus one team championship with the Wildcats in 2008.
The KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa native graduated from the University of Arizona in 2010 with a bachelors in Sociology.
