'It sucks‚' says Zorzi after missing out on Rio breaststroke berth
Giulio Zorzi‚ who once shared a world championship podium with friend Cameron van der Burgh‚ has gracefully given up on his Olympic dream. Zorzi won the bronze medal in the 50m breaststroke behind champion Van der Burgh at the 2013 world championships in Barcelona.In one of the most memorable moments of SA swimming‚ he and Van der Burgh stood together on the podium‚ arms around each other singing Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika.But the 50m breaststroke is not an Olympic event‚ and Zorzi always knew he had to qualify in the 100m breaststroke.The civil engineer was unable to achieve the 1min 00.57sec qualifying mark at the national championships in Durban on Monday night‚ but he had a good reason - he suffered a bad knee injury in December and underwent surgery in January.“I’ve only been doing the breaststroke kick for the past three‚ four weeks‚” Zorzi‚ 27‚ said.“I’m just glad to be here‚” he added. “I came back to enjoy myself. It sucks - I wanted to go to the Olympics.”But it wasn’t to be‚ he finished fourth in the final in 1:02.37.“I’m pleased that I got close to my personal best‚” said Zorzi‚ who will compete in his favourite 50m race later in the week.He plans to continue swimming until the end of the year.– TMG Digital..
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