Athens - South Africa's swimming hero Roland Schoeman is hungry for more gold.
He qualified in the fastest time (48.39 seconds) in the semi-finals of the 100m freestyle, while his team-mate Ryk Neethling, did enough to join him in the pool for Wednesday evening's final.
Schoeman was pleased when he heard that neither No 1 on the world rankings, Jason Lezak of the United States, nor his relay team-mate, Ian Crocker, had been able to qualify.
"Some of the big stars seem to be struggling in Greece. It gives the rest of us just a better chance," Schoeman said.
After qualifying for the final, Neethling said he was still a bit tired after setting a new world record on Sunday with Schoeman, Lyndon Ferns and Darian Townsend in the 4x100m freestyle relay event and winning gold.
First for the next final
"I'm going to use the following 24 hours to rest."
Neethling qualified for the final of the 1 500m freestyle event at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
All indications are that he is the first Olympic swimmer to qualify for the final of the 100m freestyle event in the next Games.
The other swimmers who qualified for the final are: (semi-final times in parentheses)
Pieter van den Hoogenband (Netherlands - 48.55), Filippo Magnini (Italy - 48.91) Anrey Kapralov (Russia - 49.12), Saalim Iles (Algeria - 49.13), Duje Dragana (Croatia - 49.14) and Ian Thorpe (Australia - 49.21).
Neethling's time in the first heat on Tuesday morning was 48.85. He said afterwards that if he could repeat that performance, he believed he could win a medal.
Schoeman said he thoroughly enjoyed the first heat: "I enjoy diving into the pool and competing."
He said he was looking forward to Wednesday evening's final.
Thorpe took Van den Hoogenband's crown as Olympic champion in the 200m freestyle on Monday evening.
They will continue their tussle on Wednesday evening, but the difference is they have two South Africans in their midst this time and both will be going for the gold medal.
The big surprise in Tuesday morning's heats was the performance of Rolandas Gimbutis of Lithuania. Like Neethling, he also recorded a time of 48.85.
Van den Hoogenband was the only swimmer who bettered that time - 48.70 seconds.
Second team to beat Americans
The 24-year-old Schoeman recorded a time of 49.68 and Neethling 48.76, which places him third on the world rankings.
South Africa became the second team since the 1960 Games in Rome to beat an American team in the 4x100m freestyle relay event and win gold.
The only other team to have managed this was the Australians at the Sydney Games in 2000. East Germany won the gold in the absence of the Americans in 1980.
The Americans are going to look to Gary Hall to restore some pride in the 50m freestyle event.
He is first on the world rankings, followed by Schoeman. Their exciting tussle begins with the heat's on Thursday morning.
Schoeman will compete against Ferns and Van den Hoogenband in his heat.
