Eight former Olympic swimmers have been among the many 30 sporting legends inducted into the South African Corridor of Fame final month.
The induction ceremony came about on August 29 at Montecasino and welcomed swimmers Cameron van der Burgh, Marianne Kriel, Penny Heyns, Terence Parkin, Roland Schoeman, Lyndon Ferns, Darian Townsend and Ryk Neethling into the celebrated class.
Over the course of their careers, the eight athletes collectively introduced residence 10 Olympic medals for South Africa between 1996 and 2016.
Schoeman, Ferns, Townsend and Neethling, all alumni of the College of Arizona males’s swimming and diving program, set a world report within the 400-meter freestyle relay on the 2004 Olympic Video games. The squad threw down a time of three:13.17 to win gold for South Africa in a shock upset over the USA.
Outdoors of the Olympic relay, every of the previous Wildcats racked up a lot of particular person accolades as properly throughout their time within the pool, as did the opposite swimmers who have been inducted alongside them.
Roland Schoeman: 4-time Olympian spanning 2000 to 2012, gained silver within the 100-meter free and bronze within the 50-meter free in Athens, NCAA champion within the 50-meter free in 2002, two-time world champion within the 50-meter butterfly, was the person world report holder within the LCM 50 butterfly, SCM 50 freestyle, SCM 100 freestyle and SCM 100 particular person medley.
Ryk Neethling: 9-time particular person NCAA champion and 17-time All-American at Arizona, named the 1998-1999 NCAA Division I Swimmer of the 12 months, obtained the College of Arizona Athlete of the Century Award, broke over 20 junior nationwide information, held 22 South African Nationwide titles, was a four-time Olympian spanning 1996 to 2008.
Lyndon Ferns: Turned the NCAA champion within the 100-yard butterfly in 2006 in a college report time of 45.89, earned eight particular person First Crew All-America honors and 15 relay All-America honors as a Wildcat, raced the 100-meter butterfly, 100-meter freestyle, 400-meter freestyle relay, and the 400-meter medley relay on the 2008 London Video games.
Darian Townsend: Swam for Arizona from 2006-2008 after transferring, was a two-time particular person NCAA champion and three-time Olympian, gained three gold medals on the 2011 African Video games.
Marianne Kriel: Bronze medalist within the 100-meter backstroke on the 1996 Olympic Video games in Atlanta, gained gold within the 200-meter backstroke on the 1995 SCM FINA World Swimming Championships.
Penny Heyns: Youngest member of the South African Olympic staff on the 1992 Barcelona Video games, has held 5 out of the six potential world information in breaststroke occasions, turned the primary lady to win gold in each the 100 and 200-meter breaststroke in a single Olympics on the 1996 Atlanta Video games, gained bronze within the 100-meter breaststroke on the 2000 Sydney Video games.
Terence Parkin: Silver medalist within the 200-meter breaststroke on the Sydney Olympics, bronze medalist within the 200-meter breaststroke on the 1999 Pan Pacific Championships, gained 5 medals (three gold) on the 1999 African Video games, introduced residence a complete of 21 medals (10 gold) throughout six Swimming World Cup championships.
Cameron van der Burgh: Broke three world information, two African information and two nationwide information, introduced residence a complete of 77 gold medals over the course of his profession, gained gold within the 100-meter breaststroke on the 2012 London Olympics, gained silver within the 100-meter breaststroke on the 2016 Rio Olympics, was a two-time World Champion.
The South African Corridor of Fame goals to honor the extraordinary achievements of South Africans whereas inspiring future generations and contains the likes of Nelson Mandela, Wayne Taylor, Sally Little and each the 1995 and 2007 Rugby World Cup groups.
