SWIMMING/ SOUTH AFRICA : It’s Summertime for Darian Townsend
Copyright : Panoramic
Early this November in Beijing, he struck again with a brilliant first place performance ahead of Shuai Wang in the 200m individual medley. 0.11s was all it took to beat the formidable Chinese swimmer in front of a Chinese crowd. His foray into the 200m freestyle also paid off as he left the pool with a silver medal having recorded an excellent 1’43”20 just behind Australian born, Tommaso D’Orsogna. What A feat for the South African coming up against heavyweights in the pool! Since the start of the winter season, the native of Pinetown (a suburban town in Durban) has collected fourteen medals — five in gold, two in silver and seven bronze. He started picking medals in Dubai then continued his success story in Doha, Moscow, Berlin and recently in Beijing. This period of pomp and splendour for the South African swimmer who graduated from the American University of Arizona brings to mind his first moment of glory when he came to the limelight. It was in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens that Townsend, and three other South African musketeers, thrilled the crowd in the 4×100m freestyle relay and made it to the front page of most sports magazines and newspapers. It was a foursome dream team made up of Roland Schoeman, Lyndon Ferns, Ryk Neethling and…Darian Townsend who conquered the world. This first victory for Darian was complemented by a world record, a sensational performance delivered by the South African at the expense of the Americans’ unbroken record. After this very colour record, Darian slipped behind a little bit but not to the point of disappearing. He continued his career by always joining the South African train for world championships, Olympic Games and by qualifying regularly for international finals. He was in the South African 4×100m freestyle relay team that was ranked sixth at the 2011 World Championship in Shangai. The experienced South African’s brilliant results registered last October could be a herald of his coming back to his former glory days. The World Championship in short course scheduled to run from December 12 to 16 in Istanbul, Turkey will be litmus for this hypothesis. Profile Darian Townsend Born on 28 August in Pinetown, Durban, South Africa Discipline: swimming Specialist in: freestyle, individual medley and 4X100 m freestyle relay Achievements: 2004 Olympic Champion in 4X100 m freestyle relay Performances at the 2012 FINA/ARENA Swimming World Cup in short course Beijing (3 November); 200 m individual medley: 1st; 200 m freestyle: 2nd; 100 m individual medley: 4th Berlin (21 October): 200 m individual medley: 1st; 200 m freestyle: 3rd; 100 m individual medley: 3rd; 100 m freestyle: 3rd. Moscow (18 October): 200 m individual medley: 3rd; 200 m freestyle: 1st; 100 m individual medley: 3rd; Doha (7 October): 200 m individual medley: 1st; 200 m freestyle; 2nd; 100 m individual medley: 3rd; 100 m freestyle: 5th. Dubaï (3 October): 200 m freestyle: 1st; 100 m freestyle: 5th; 100 m individual medley: 3rd
