Swimming coaches delight in World Cup coup

Christmas will be coming early for the country's top swimmers after the announcement that the first weekend of December will see the planet's finest swimmers competing at the King's Park pool in Durban.

"I think it's fantastic," said Westville coach Petro Nortje.

"It will also give some of our youngsters a chance to test themselves against the best in the world.

"The exposure against international competition will be the chance of a lifetime.

"Many of our young swimmers have only ever seen the stars on television, and now they will get the opportunity to see them in the flesh . . . and even race against them.

"This is a very big step for SA swimming, and maybe it will lead to even bigger things, like hosting the world championships."

The presence of Australian triple gold Olympic medallist Ian Thorpe and Dutch rival Pieter van den Hoogenband should see the 5 000-seat arena at the pool sold out on both days.

"It's unbelievable," said Graham Hill, coach of the Mr Price Seagulls club who include among their number Olympic breaststroke star Terence Parkin, World Cup winner Charlene Wittstock, Brett Petersen and Swiss representative Alain Tardin.

"It's going to do a lot for swimming in this country. The rest of the country can see what it's all about and what we're up against.

"It will have an amazing effect on the swimmers too," he added.

"It will be a real advantage for us. I know my swimmers will be preparing for that to prove themselves. It's always nice to win on home ground."

Having secured the vote for the World Cup meet - it will be for a three-year period - is one thing. Next on the agenda will be raising the R7-million required to host it.

Swimming SA president Gideon Sam has already called on sponsors to come to the party, and, given the exposure that sponsors will receive via the international media in more than 180 countries, it seems certain the required funding will be available shortly.

A full programme of 34 short-course events will be staged at King's Park, with prize-money totalling around R1-million.

Each race is worth R15 000 to the winner, R10 000 for silver and R5 000 for the final place on the podium.

Organising body Fina's end-of-series prize money is R500 000 for first, R300 000 for the runner-up and R200 000 for third.

There is an additional R600 000 set aside for rewarding those who claim world records, and the event may well see a record or two, as the altitude and climate are all perfect for the series - and Penny Heyns has shown it can be done at King's Park.

Fina say it is delighted that a World Cup series event will be held on the African continent for the first time, and the 2003/04 series will feature events on five continents, making it a truly global spectacle.

Being the third of the nine-race series means the swimmers will be at their best, having overcome their initial "feeling out" stage at Daejon in Korea, with most of the stars heading for Melbourne in Australia for the second leg.

The Aussies have brought forward by a week the dates of their event, which will go a long way to ensuring that the cream of the swimmers are available for the Durban leg.

The series then moves to three of four choices in Europe - Paris, Stockholm, Moscow or Berlin - before heading for New York, Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro.