Durban – A relay team with the potential to win a medal emerged at the South African Swimming Championships yesterday as Cameron van der Burgh, Chad le Clos, Christopher Reid and Calvyn Justus qualified as a foursome for the Rio Olympic Games.
Set a target of 3min 34sec to qualify for the 4x100m medley relay team, the four swimmers dipped narrowly as Justus, swimming the freestyle leg, stopped the clock on 3:33.80.
Reid, who broke the South African 100m backstroke record earlier this week, got the team off to a good start with a split of 53.12 seconds.
Van der Burgh was the star of the relay in the breaststroke leg, clocking 58.95sec, before Le Clos posted 51.59 in the butterfly.
At the final takeover, Justus had to dip below 50 seconds to give the team a chance of qualifying but the 20-year-old held his nerve with a split of 49.74.
An excited Van der Burgh said he believed the team had the potential to compete for a medal at the Games but it would require some blood, sweat and tears to get there.
“The main thing is we’ve qualified, it is a huge thing for us, Van der Burgh said.
“I believe it is our most competitive relay going into the Olympic Games.
“We’ve got a lot of hard work but we have four months to feed off each other, work hard and work on those takeovers, get the splits down and understand where we need to improve.”
Reid’s record-breaking swim during the 100m backstroke heats earlier this week set the relay plans into motion as South Africa finally found a backstroker to complement world beating stars Van der Burgh and Le Clos.
“The head coach (Graham Hill) approached me two years ago and said we have the potential to have a really good relay team if a backstroker made the step-up and go 53-middle,” Reid said.
“That has been the goal for me over the last two years, not only to qualify but get the 53 and make the relay possible.
“I think it would be great for our country if we pull off another relay win or at least a medal like the boys in Athens.”
This just left the team to find a freestyle swimmer to round off the team, and thanks to his title-winning swim in the 100m freestyle, Justus was selected to fill the high-pressure final leg of the relay.
Justus demonstrated big-match temperament in the final with a new personal best 49.88 to dip below 50 seconds the first time in his young career.
“It is safe to say that was the most terrified I’ve ever been but when I heard the crowd going off for Chris when he got in, it went away and I was so excited,” Justus said.
“It’s been my dream since I started the sport so I am on cloud nine right now.” – Saturday Star