After a frustrating performance at the recent FINA World Championships in Shanghai, Roland Schoeman has decided to use golf as therapy to get his mind off swimming, and teed it up in this week’s Vodacom Origins of Golf tournament at the Wild Coast Sun Country Club.

The Olympic champion is one of several celebrities competing alongside the Sunshine Tour professionals in this pro-am tournament.
And Schoeman has thoroughly enjoyed the distraction of golf as he tries to put the disappointment of Shanghai behind him and refocus.
 

“Getting to the World Champs and then not making a final was very disappointing,” he said. “It’s just not worth all the effort. So I felt I needed to get my mind off swimming for a few weeks, and this golf tournament came at the right time for that.”
 

Schoeman admits that he is at a point in his career where he feels he needs to dig deep to find the motivation to get to his best levels again.
 

“I’m struggling a bit with that at this time. My first international competition was in 1998, and the last few years I’ve started to realise that the world revolves around more than just swimming.
 

“It’s been five years now that I’ve been getting into major competitions and thinking I know what I’m doing, and then not getting the results that I want. And I don’t really know why. So I just needed to get my mind off swimming for a while and refocus.
 

“Then I’m going to find myself a good base overseas and give it one last shot for next year’s Olympics.”