AFTER bagging eight medals at the recent SA championships, Chad le Clos will target an ambitious nine gongs at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Announcing SA's provisional swim team of 19 for the showpiece in Scotland from July 23 to August 3, national coach Graham Hill said Le Clos would compete in six individual races and three relays.
The pinnacle achievement of world swimming is eight golds from a single Olympics, held by Michael Phelps from Beijing 2008, while the Commonwealth Games mark sits at six golds, jointly owned by Australians Ian Thorpe and Susie O'Neill.
Le Clos, who picked up five medals in 2010, once stated he wanted to surpass O'Neill's career record of 15 Commonwealth swimming medals.
Le Clos won eight individual medals - seven golds and a silver - at the national gala in Durban, although he failed to achieve qualifying times in the 100m and 200m freestyle races. In Glasgow he will compete in the 50m, 100m and 200m butterfly, 200m and 400m individual medley and 200m backstroke, as well as the 4x100m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle and 4x100m medley relays.
Only nine SA swimmers achieved Commonwealth Games qualifying times last week, but the other 10 were included for the relays. Hill is predicting at least nine medals in Scotland, although it could be more if the women fire.
Left out of the provisional team, which has yet to be ratified by the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc), is Giulio Zorzi, the 50m breaststroke bronze medallist from last year's world championships in Barcelona.
Swimming SA's selection criteria did not allow qualification in non-Olympic events, like the 50m sprints in breaststroke, butterfly and backstroke.
Zorzi had promised to force his way into the team with a scintillating time, but he was slower than he hoped.
"If he had gone really fast we would have looked at it, but his time was too slow," Hill said. He added he had spoken to veteran Roland Schoeman who had agreed to return to the relay lineup.
The coach, also Le Clos's mentor, admitted he had been disappointed by the performances in the week, saying he had expected 12 swimmers to qualify individually.
"We expected a lot more from our younger swimmers. Maybe we were expecting too much. But all is not lost - we've got two years to the Rio Olympics in 2016."
SA team:
Men - Brad Tandy (50m freestyle), Van der Burgh (50m and 100m breaststroke), Le Clos (50, 100m, 200m butterfly; 200m, 400m individual medley; 200m backstroke), Dylan Bosch (200m fly; 200m IM) Myles Brown (400m free), Schoeman (50m fly; 50m free), Sebastien Rousseau (400m IM), Brett Walsh (relays), Leith Shankland (relays), Caydon Muller (relays), Calvyn Justus (relays), Darren Murray (relays).
Women - Karin Prinsloo (100m, 200m free; 100m, 200m back), Tara Nicholas (100m breast), Erin Gallagher (relays), Trudi Maree (relays), Marlies Ross (relays), Jessica Ashleigh-Cooper (relays), Marne Erasmus (relays).
Chad out to plunder Commonwealth gold
AFTER bagging eight medals at the recent SA championships, Chad le Clos will target an ambitious nine gongs at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Announcing SA's provisional swim team of 19 for the showpiece in Scotland from July 23 to August 3, national coach Graham Hill said Le Clos would compete in six individual races and three relays.
The pinnacle achievement of world swimming is eight golds from a single Olympics, held by Michael Phelps from Beijing 2008, while the Commonwealth Games mark sits at six golds, jointly owned by Australians Ian Thorpe and Susie O'Neill.
Le Clos, who picked up five medals in 2010, once stated he wanted to surpass O'Neill's career record of 15 Commonwealth swimming medals.
Le Clos won eight individual medals - seven golds and a silver - at the national gala in Durban, although he failed to achieve qualifying times in the 100m and 200m freestyle races. In Glasgow he will compete in the 50m, 100m and 200m butterfly, 200m and 400m individual medley and 200m backstroke, as well as the 4x100m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle and 4x100m medley relays.
Only nine SA swimmers achieved Commonwealth Games qualifying times last week, but the other 10 were included for the relays. Hill is predicting at least nine medals in Scotland, although it could be more if the women fire.
Left out of the provisional team, which has yet to be ratified by the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc), is Giulio Zorzi, the 50m breaststroke bronze medallist from last year's world championships in Barcelona.
Swimming SA's selection criteria did not allow qualification in non-Olympic events, like the 50m sprints in breaststroke, butterfly and backstroke.
Zorzi had promised to force his way into the team with a scintillating time, but he was slower than he hoped.
"If he had gone really fast we would have looked at it, but his time was too slow," Hill said. He added he had spoken to veteran Roland Schoeman who had agreed to return to the relay lineup.
The coach, also Le Clos's mentor, admitted he had been disappointed by the performances in the week, saying he had expected 12 swimmers to qualify individually.
"We expected a lot more from our younger swimmers. Maybe we were expecting too much. But all is not lost - we've got two years to the Rio Olympics in 2016."
SA team:
Men - Brad Tandy (50m freestyle), Van der Burgh (50m and 100m breaststroke), Le Clos (50, 100m, 200m butterfly; 200m, 400m individual medley; 200m backstroke), Dylan Bosch (200m fly; 200m IM) Myles Brown (400m free), Schoeman (50m fly; 50m free), Sebastien Rousseau (400m IM), Brett Walsh (relays), Leith Shankland (relays), Caydon Muller (relays), Calvyn Justus (relays), Darren Murray (relays).
Women - Karin Prinsloo (100m, 200m free; 100m, 200m back), Tara Nicholas (100m breast), Erin Gallagher (relays), Trudi Maree (relays), Marlies Ross (relays), Jessica Ashleigh-Cooper (relays), Marne Erasmus (relays).
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