Rio de Janeiro - A South African medley relay team has a theoretical chance of winning a medal at the Rio Olympic Games but has some work to do this week.
While the first three legs of the relay team was an open secret it was still a mystery who will anchor the team in the freestyle leg.
A year ago the formation of a 4x100m medley relay team would have been almost unthinkable but Christopher Reid’s emergence as a strong backstroker has sparked some optimism.
Olympic gold medalist Cameron van der Burgh race in the breaststroke leg while Chad le Clos would swim the butterfly.
None of the freestyle swimmers have really put up their hands but it looks increasingly possible that the responsibility would fall on Myles Brown, who clocked a new South African 400m record on Saturday.
National swimming coach Graham Hill was skittish about the composition of the team with the freestylers having to prove their form for the anchor role.
“We had a few time trials, we will look how they look during the week to because things can change now,” Hill said.
“It becomes a bit of a pressure cooker now and we need to look at who can handle that and they will all are before the medley relay and that would give us a good idea.”
While the search is on for the freestyle swimmer, Hill said a relay team’s success would depend on how well does in the opening backstroke leg.
Reid kickstarted plans for the relay team when he shattered Gerhard Zandberg’s eight-year-old 100m backstroke record with a time of 53.12 seconds at the South African Swimming Championships in Durban in April.
“I think the medley relay has a good chance, there is a lot of pressure on Christopher Reid, it is his first Olympics, he knows that if he doesn't get us off to a good lead off we could be back in our same position,” Hill said.
“But he is going well, he swam well last night, and he is looking good, and he is confident.
“If he gets us off to a good start we just have to make sure our middle two guys are on their game as well.”
Although the pressure may be on Reid at the start of the race, it will come to naught if the freestyle swimmer let’s it slip at the end.
That is perhaps why team management decided to let the swimmers battle it out for the anchor.
“The results over the gala will decide who is in the best form, I am just here to swim fast and if I manage to be in good form and the coaches believe I am the best option for the relay that will be great,” Brown said.
“I have complete faith in the guy that will be anchoring the medley relay.
“It would be an amazing swim and an amazing relay to be on but there are three or four guys that could swim it so for now it is a big secret even for us.”
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