By Neil Sands
Melbourne - South African Roland Schoeman hung on to win Commonwealth gold in the men 50m butterfly Saturday but blamed an illness for his failure to break his own world record.
Schoeman claimed his second gold in the Melbourne pool, after the South Africans' success on Thursday in the men's 4x100m freestyle relay but was clearly frustrated by his illness.
He failed to touch the wall cleanly and finished in 23.34 seconds, a performance that narrowly held off Australians Matt Welsh and Michael Klim and was well outside his world record 22.96 set in Montreal in 2005.
| He felt tired in the butterfly final |
Schoeman said he felt tired in the butterfly final after contesting a 100m freestyle semifinal earlier in the night.
"It definitely does affect you and the fact that I'm sick as well doesn't help," he said.
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"I've got a germ, whether it's a good germ or a bad germ is yet to be decided - so far I'm under the impression it's a good germ.
"I'm tired, my heart rate's elevated and I'm coughing up all kinds of things you probably don't want to know about. It seems to be a tradition that when I get to a big competition I get sick."
Schoeman said he would probably plan for a long acclimatisation period in China ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics to avoid the health problems that have plagued him at recent major meets.
| 'I'm stronger, I'm faster, I am an animal!' |
He was pleased he could still win gold despite the illness and felt in far better shape than the last Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2002.
"It's amazing to see what happens in four years, I'm stronger, I'm faster, I am an animal! At the end of the night it was just about getting gold," he said.
In other South African results, Johannes du Rand won silver in the men's 200 metres backstroke and Suzaan Van Biljon took bronze in the women's 200m breaststroke.
"I'm happy with my time, I didn't expect to win a medal and it hasn't kicked in yet," she said.
South Africa had another gold medal on Friday, when disabled swimmer Natalie du Toit smashed the amputee world record in the 50m freestyle twice in one day.
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