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SA swimmers in Heathrow chaos
08/04/2008 13:35 - (SA)
London - Gerhard Zandberg's SA swimming contingent were caught up in the chaos at Terminal 5 at Heathrow International Airport in London, which caused the swimmers from Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal to miss their connection flight to Manchester.
The SA team left Johannesburg on Monday night, to compete in the FINA World Short Course Swimming Championships in Manchester from April 9-13.
Upon landing in London, the swimmers and support staff under the guidance of head coach Dirk Lange, were stranded aboard their aeroplane for 30 minutes, while the airport officials attempted first to get their skywalk electronic system across to the aircraft, followed by a lengthy wait for the good-old fashioned steps to arrive.
The contingent eventually exited via the skywalk system only to miss their connecting flight to Manchester, resulting in a three and a half hour delay while waiting for another flight.
It was a long morning at Heathrow for the 19-person group including the likes of Cameron van der Burgh, Thabang Moeketsane, Melissa Corfe, Suzaan van Biljon and Melissa Corfe, as they waited for time to pass.
The Western Cape-based athletes in the form of Heerden Herman, Chanelle van Wyk, Jessica Pengelly and Sebastien Rousseau and assistant coach Karoly Toros, were a bit more fortunate as they caught a different connecting flight, having flown to London from Cape Town.
"The delay at Terminal 5 in Heathrow has meant the SA team will not be able to put in a training session in the competition swimming pool in Manchester on Tuesday, and team management have been scurrying to acquire other swimming facilities in Manchester, for the team to practice in, prior to the start of the competition on Wednesday," said Lange.
- SAPA
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