Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa Dec/Jan 2016/17 | Page 11

R

yk Neethling is known amongst
most South Africans as one of
the swimming stars that won an
Olympic gold medal for South
Africa in the 4 x 100 m freestyle
relay at the 2004 Summer Games
in Athens, Greece. Many people vividly recall the
day that Ryk and his three teammates, Roland
Schoeman, Darian Townsend and Lyndon Ferns
broke the world freestyle relay record as complete
underdogs. Today, his swimming achievements –
including breaking several South African records
– has given him excellent grounding in both
business and the real estate industry.
Ryk – originally from Bloemfontein, Free State
– was educated at Grey College, which set the
stage for his success. He was f irst appointed to
the Olympic team in 1996 in Atlanta where he
f inished f ifth in the 1 500 m freestyle, having
swum for South Africa for the f irst time.
Thereafter, he enrolled at the University of
Arizona in Tuscon in the United States where he
studied industrial psychology.
In 2003, Ryk decided to get back into the pool
to chase his Olympic dream one more time – a
lifechanging decision which led to his gold medal
the year after. His swimming career almost took
a turn in 2005 when he was offered R 50 million
to swim for Qatar. However, to remain true to the
South African f lag, Ryk turned this offer down.
Ryk off icially retired from swimming in 2008
after four successive Olympic Games and started
a number of swimming academies, franchising
his ‘learn to swim’ brand.

www.reimag.co.za

RYK NEETHLING
Today, he owns and manages four swimming
academies, and mentors and manages Olympic
swimmer, Cameron van der Burgh.

Ryk as a real estate apprentice

Ryk ’s f irst move into real estate came after
he graduated from the University of Arizona
in 2001, where he started working for a new
commercial real estate development company in
Tucson, Arizona called Bourn Partners. He said,
“It was a very
dynamic environment and they dominated
established national real estate companies in the
area. I started right at the bottom doing cold calls
and looking back I wouldn’t change a thing.”
This was where Ryk developed his enthusiasm
for the property industry.
In 2011, he became a major shareholder at Val
de Vie Estate where he took over as marketing
director and as property developer at the estate.
Val de Vie is a high-end polo and lifestyle estate
situated in the Paarl-Franschhoek Valley in the
Cape Winelands. It is home to many of South
Africa’s prestige personalities and celebrities.

RYK’S VITAL STATS

Marketing Director, Val de Vie
2011 to present
Property development and real estate investment
Age: 39 years old
Relationship/marital status: Not married
What books are you reading at the moment?
Shoe dog: A Memoir creator of Nike, Phil Knight.
What is your life motto? Dream big, work hard and stay humble

DEC/JAN 2016 SA Real Estate Investor

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