Her next big event was the London Olympics in 2012 where her best performance was a semi-final finish in the 200m backstroke. The Tuks swimmer had her best performance on an international level at the Aquatic Super Series in Perth, Australia earlier this year and most recently in the Mare Nostrum Series in Barcelona and Monaco. In those events she won a total of five medals. She struck gold in the 200m freestyle, silver in the 400m freestyle and bronze in both the 200m freestyle and the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay.
Coming into the 20th edition of the Commonwealth Games, Prinsloo qualified for the women’s 100m, 200m, and 400m freestyle, and the 200m backstroke. In the 200m freestyle Prinsloo finished sixth overall in the semis to qualify for the finals where she went on to finish eighth in a time of 1:58:95. This was an improvement from the London Olympics where she failed to reach the semis after finishing 20th in the heats. Prinsloo also took part in the 100m freestyle but could not replicate her performance in the 200m race as she did not start in the event. The swimmer, coached by Igor Omeltchenko who is also part of the team SA contingent at the Commonwealth Games, participated in her final event, the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay. In the relay, Prinsloo helped South Africa finish second in their semi-final and secure a spot in the final. In the final South Africa did not finish among the podium spots but broke the national record by three seconds.
Prinsloo is certainly one of the female athletes to look out for as she now sets her sight on the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Image: amazon.aws.com