Cape Town - One of the country’s most-loved sons of the water, Cameron van der Burgh, jets off to Greece today and in a few days will tie the knot with his Greek goddess, Nefeli Valakelis.
Weekend Argus caught up with one of the golden boys of South African and world swimming during an hour-long discussion with Cape Talk 567 host Phillipa Hudson this week.
Van der Burgh and his fiancée will exchange vows at a cliff-side villa in the Greek capital Athens, on July 2, in what he quips would be the third instalment of the popular movie franchise My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
Valakelis is a qualified lawyer but hung up her legal gown and now works as an account manager at advertising firm, Ogilvy & Mather.
The couple, both 30, attended the same school but only really noticed each other much later in life when they met at a bar on two separate occasions.
“We were both seeing other people when we first re-met after many years and then we met again at a bar and we were both single,” said a smiling Van der Burgh.
And the wedding gown?
Valakelis will be dressed by Spanish wedding couture designer Pronovias, who is based in Barcelona, Spain, with an office in Sandton in Johannesburg.
The company’s website says: “A wedding dress is both intimate and personal for a woman - it must reflect the personality and style of the bride”.
If the dresses on their website are anything to go by, Valakelis is going to look breathtaking.
Guests from South Africa and other parts of the world will make a total of 170 for the wedding and includes the likes of Ryk Neethling, Chad le Clos and TV personality Maps Maponyane.
“Maps is a friend of mine but he is also doing something for Top Billing on the wedding,” said Van der Berg.
Cameron van der Burgh thinks about his upcoming wedding. Picture: Cindy Waxa /African News Agency (ANA)
The former Olympic, world and, recently, Commonwealth champion shared some of his career highlights with future swimming stars at the Primedia Studios during a live show.
“I hated swimming as a kid,” admitted Van der Burgh, who started swimming at the age of 10.
He said he developed ADHD while he was at primary school and the medication he was on did not agree with his body.
He never thought he would reach the pinnacle of swimming like he did.
Van der Berg was born six weeks prematurely but still weighed in at a whopping three-and-a-half kilograms.
“If I stayed in the womb much longer, my mother would have burst.
“I love swimming. It calms me, especially when I am underwater. Swimming is a form of meditation for me. It teaches you so much about yourself - responsibility and dedication,” said Van der Burgh.
But it wasn’t always happy times for the three-times FINA champion who admitted that, at 28, and at the 2016 Olympic Games, he suffered from burnout and knew he was not in the best physical condition to win the gold medal.
“I knew I wasn’t going to get the gold medal. I basically raced for silver,” said Van der Burgh.
The groom-to-be shyly admitted he was inspired by another South African swimming great, Penny Heyns.
“I cut out pics of Penny and pasted them inside my cupboard door but I did not dream about her in that way (laughs). I only dreamt of winning like she did.”
His best moment came at the 2012 Olympic Games in London when he raced to gold in the 100m breaststroke race after taking out the first 50m in a blazing split, and broke the world record in the process.
“I remember Ryk telling me: ‘You don’t realise just how much your life is going to change’,” said Van der Burgh.
Neethling’s words only had real meaning to Van der Burgh when he returned home from the London Olympic Games and was greeted by thousands of people at the airport.
“It was an incredible feeling. It was crazy,” he recalled.
But he has remained humble and started planning for a life after swimming immediately after winning his first gold in London.
Van der Burgh started his own company, Touch 58, which is named for his winning time in London in 2012 which focuses on corporate partnerships, sponsorships and investment.
This big man with an even bigger heart is also actively part of a global charity organisation called Steps, which assists children who are born with clubfoot.
Clubfoot is a deformity in which an infant’s foot is turned inward, often so severely that the bottom of the foot faces sideways or even upwards. Approximately one infant in every 1 000 live births will have clubfoot, making it one of the more common congenital (present at birth) foot deformities.
Van der Burgh helps to raise money for Steps so that they can fix these children’s feet and give them a chance of having a normal life.
“Did you know, it only costs R2 500 to change a child’s life forever? It takes about one- and-a-half years for the deformity to be completely fixed,” he said.
Asked where he now keeps his medals after a break-in at his parents’ home in Pretoria in 2012, he said: “I keep my medals at my parents’ house, behind big dogs and guards.”
Van der Burgh is all about the team and said he would never forget the 10 teammates who accompanied him for the day in preparation of that memorable London final.
“They followed me everywhere. At the warm-up and they made so much noise as I swam to gold and when I touched first, my first fist-pump went to those amazing guys who supported me,” he said.
While Van der Burgh plans to retire after the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, he said he would take it six months at a time to see how much further his body would allow him to go.