Q & A
South Africa’ s swimmers returned from the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow with an impressive 22-medal haul. Leading the way for the women was Lara van Niekerk, who successfully defended her 50m breaststroke title and also picked up bronze alongside her Team SA teammates in the 4x100m medley relay. We caught up with the Pretoria swimmer to chat about what that gold meant after a tough few years – and why she’ s feeling hungry for more.
Photos courtesy of Anton Geyser
How did it feel to be back on top of that Comm Games podium after the last few years you’ ve had?
It felt amazing being back on the podium. It was a really rough few years, but I ' m really happy that everything just came back together, and I ' m really honoured to have reclaimed my Commonwealth title and am always honoured to represent the country.
Can you take us through that 50m breaststroke final – what was going through your mind before and during the race?
I spoke to Erin Gallagher before and she said: ' You ' ve done everything you can for this final. You just need to go swim and the rest is up to God.' And I just really held on to what she told me, because in a 50, everything comes down to a touch. I just knew that if I was calm, focused, and just actually enjoying it, I was going to swim well. So when I was walking out, I actually waved to our teammates and gave them a little thumbs up and just felt a bit more relaxed before the race, and I think it really all paid off.
You’ ve said before that you had lost your love of swimming – was it back in full force in Glasgow?
Yes, I did lose my love for swimming a little bit, but I think it ' s been back for a while now. After taking three months off with my back injury, I immediately found the love for the sport again, so it ' s just great being back, and I really enjoyed every single moment of Glasgow.
How was the overall experience – being back with the team, and especially a team that was doing so well?
It was a really amazing experience. The team spirit, the team environment, everything was just amazing. I mean, the team was doing so well. It ' s the best Commonwealth team we ' ve ever had, most medals we ' ve ever won, so the energy was just so positive. And I think everyone was just so happy for each other winning a medal. It was just great being on the team, and I ' m really honoured to have been amongst those amazing swimmers.
What’ s your abiding memory from Glasgow – away from the pool?
What I ' ll always remember is doing the victory walk around the pool when I received my medal, just hugging my coach and my teammates, and then getting to my parents and both of them having tears on their cheeks. It was just such an amazing moment because of all the things I ' ve been through, and it ' s just great knowing that I ' m through the worst and we ' re just moving up from now.
How much hungrier has this made you for world champs and the LA Olympics?
It ' s definitely made me hungrier because just knowing that I ' m back on the top again, even though I wasn ' t completely happy about the time, but a gold medal is a gold medal and I ' m just really grateful. I ' m really excited for what the future holds, and obviously getting back to hard training now and having the focus already shifted to world champs and the LA Olympics.
What’ s next for you now in the next few months?
What ' s next is hopefully qualifying for the World Short Course Championships in December. That will be an amazing one to go and do in China, but then definitely looking at the qualification next year for the LA Olympics in the 50 meters, and also focusing on world champs. So, it ' s a big year coming ahead next year. The focus is definitely starting to shift to that."
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