Olympic places up for grabs
2008-04-24 10:55
Johannesburg - Swim stars Natalie du Toit, Chad Ho and Velia Janse van Rensburg will spearhead SA's hopes of fast finishers, at the Fina World Open Water Swimming Championships in Seville, Spain from May 3-8.
With the top 10 finishers in the male and female categories in Seville, qualifying for the Beijing Olympics, the competition is expected to be tough.
Cape Town-based du Toit, who recently returned from a training stint in Australia, will join Eastern Province's Velia Janse van Rensburg in the women's 10km race while KwaZulu-Natal's Ho, will represent the Rainbow Nation in the men's event over the same distance. Both 10km events take place on May 3.
Ho and Western Province's James Faure will line up for action in the 5km event on May 6, with du Toit and Free State's Louise Smyth set to start in the female section.
Earlier this year at the Telkom SA National championships in Elgin in the Western Cape, Ho took the senior 5km title in 1 hour and 36 secs, followed by Faure in 1:00.43.26.
Du Toit claimed the women's title in 1:03.43, with Smyth next best in 1:05.10.
In the 10km section, Ho was the top placed SA finisher in Elgin, taking fourth spot behind the visiting British trio in 1:56.09, while Janse van Rensburg (second in 2:05.46) and du Toit (fourth in 2:07.42) also held their heads high among international competition.
- SAPA