Schoeman laughs off 'injury'
2006-03-14 14:49
Melbourne - South Africa's double world
champion Ronald Schoeman dismissed speculation on Tuesday he is
carrying a shoulder injury ahead of the Commonwealth Games.
With South Africa's swimmers set to clash with hosts
Australia in Melbourne, Schoeman caused a major stir simply by
wearing an anti-inflammatory patch during a training session on
Monday.
"It's amazing how you wear a patch on your shoulder and the
next thing you know it's some sort of deformity or something
that is super-serious," he said.
"It's just a niggling injury. It's really nothing serious.
It's just a little bit of tendonitis. The plaster was just a
bit of anti-inflammatory just to stop anything serious."
The absence of Ian Thorpe and Grant Hackett has left the
Australian men's team short of big names but the mind games
have begun in earnest in the run-up to the Games.
Schoeman was anxious to avoid giving Australia a
psychological lift by raising fears his preparations were being
hampered.
"(The patch) is just preventative at this point," said
Schoeman, who won gold in the 50m butterfly and 50m
freestyle at last year's world championships.
"I just have to warm it up properly before I compete. It's
amazing that you can wear something on a body part and have
such a huge attraction. I love it."
Schoeman was also a member of the South African 4x100
freestyle team who won gold in world record time at the 2004
Athens Olympics.
The Commonwealth Games swimming competition begins on
Thursday at Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre and runs until
March 21.
- Reuters