Jarred Crous became the seventh South African and the second UP swimmer in the elite club to qualify for Rio and did so in the 200 m breastroke behind Van der Burgh with a time of 2:11.65. Crous had also looked in shape for the 100 m and managed a time of 1:01.09, just missing the Rio qualifying time of 1:00.57. He will be aiming for the qualifying time again before the Sascoc qualifying deadline on 30 June.
The third UP swimmer to meet an Olympic qualifying time in Durban was Douglas Erasmus, who swam a time of 22.26 s in the men’s 50 m freestyle event, a mere 0.01 s within the qualifying times. Erasmus is also the protégé of veteran Roland Schoeman, who himself just missed out on what would have been an unprecedented fifth Olympic games. “A qualifying time is always around the 16th best time in the world […] so the realistic chance, for [Crous] and for [Erasmus] is to make it to the semi-finals at the Olympics,” says Meiring.
TuksSwimming also have a Paralympic hope in Emily Gray, who qualified for the 400 m freestyle (S9) in a time of 5:05.36 and the 100 m backstroke (S10) in 1:17.17. “She has qualified to be in contention to be selected. They will only select the top three qualifiers from South Africa for the Olympic team, but we would like her to be selected. We’re holding thumbs for her,” says Meiring.
Meiring is happy with TuksSwimming’s performance during qualifiers but feels that it’s the individuals who can take claim for their performance. Meiring said, “It’s the determination and commitment of the swimmers [that] allows them to fulfil their dream. TuksSwimming’s role is to assist swimmers who are absolutely determined, [but] it starts with the swimmer and it ends with the swimmer. TuksSwimming, with the support of TuksSport, is there to facilitate them and to support them through funding and maintenance of facilities so that the swimmers are able to train uninterruptedly. We are [also] always trying to improve the coaching standard, improve the technical aspects of the swimmers, and push every day to be better.”
Paralympic swimmer Emily Gray. Image provided
