SA event is short of Ryk and Roland

The big-name stars that brought the country Olympic swimming glory may not be in Maritzburg this week, but there will still be plenty of speed on display at the Telkom SA Short Course Championships, starting on Thursday.

Triple Olympic medallist Roland Schoeman has opted to take a month off after claiming double gold and a silver at the recent World Championships in Montreal (to go along with his two world records), while Ryk Neethling decided to compete at the national championships in Brazil.

Illness has, however, kept him at home, much to the disappointment of the fans he won over at the last leg of the World Cup series (in which he won the overall title) in South America earlier this year.

But with the likes of George du Rand and two-time world championship finalist Suzaan van Biljon in the mix here from today until Sunday, there are still likely to be a few records obliterated.

While Van Biljon admits she is not tapered for this championships (she is in the middle of matric exams), Du Rand is in great shape. And having smashed his own SA 200m backstroke record at the recent World Student Games in Turkey, he knows he is in fast form.

It'll be a busy few days for the Bloemfontein swimmer who has entered the 50, 100 and 200 backstroke and butterfly events as well as the 200 and 400 freestyle and 200 individual medley.

"It will be hectic but I am looking forward to it," said Du Rand. "I did really well at the World Student Games and managed to break my own SA record there so I'm good times." Du Rand is aiming for at least one or two SA records, most likely in his favoured backstroke events.

Du Rand is looking to compete at the Durban leg of the World Cup at the end of the year, as well as at next year's Commonwealth Games and World Short Course Championships.

That is also a goal of Soweto swimmer Thabang Moeketsane, now based at the High Performance centre in Pretoria. He sees the World Short Course championships as an opportunity to experience swimming in China, with a view to competing at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

But first there's the Durban World Cup in November where he hopes to do better than the two bronzes he got last year.

Many of the over 400 swimmers competing in Maritzburg will be hoping for a spot on the SA team to go to the World Cup. These include Sydney silver medallist Terence Parkin, two-time Olympian Mandy Loots and training partner Lauren Roets, Melissa Corfe, Chanelle van Wyk, Troyden Prinsloo and Jean-Marie Neethling.