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South Africa’s Cameron Van Der Burgh put it all on the line in the opening stages of the 100 breast final at the FINA world championships, turning at 50 meters four tenths ahead of rival Adam Peaty. After hearing about his opening split of 26.79, Van Der Burgh acknowledged that it was too fast, but knew had to put forth that type of pace in order to have a chance at the gold medal.
“You can’t try to swim Adam’s race and expect to beat him doing it his style, because he’s going to beat you nine out of 10 days,” he said. “So, you’ve got to try and swim your race.”
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The progression of swims from prelims to finals marked a return to the sub-59 second club for Van Der Burgh, who was off form in 2014 when Peaty overtook him at the Commonwealth Games. With that on his mind, he said he was thrilled to be on the medal podium.
“A silver medal is nothing to be sad about,” he said.
After his semifinal swim, he said he was dealing with injuries that put him off his game last year. With those healed, Van Der Burgh said he was happy to be able to train as hard as he needed to in order to challenge for a world championship title.
“It’s a lot easier to race when you’re in better condition,” he said. “Being able to race injury-free is a big bonus.”
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