1947 — Three South Africans strike success at the French championships, with Eric Sturgess taking both the men’s doubles and mixed doubles crowns. He and countryman Eustace Fannin won the men’s doubles by beating American Tom Brown and Bill Sidwell of Australia 6-4 4-6 6-4 6-3. Then Sturgess teamed up with another compatriot, Sheila Summers, to take the mixed doubles mantle by beating Christian Caralulis of Romania and Pole Jadwiga Jedrzejowska 6-0 6-0. Sturgess also made the final of the men’s singles, losing 6-8 5-7 4-6 to Jozsef Asboth of Hungary.
1952 — Esther Brand becomes the first woman from Africa to win an Olympic gold medal when she takes the high jump title at the Helsinki Games. She was the only one in the field to clear 1.67m, though she would have still beaten Briton Sheila Lerwill on countback if she’d not improved on the 1.65m they both cleared in the ninth round of competition.
2003 — Gerhard Zandberg wins South Africa’s only medal of the world championships in Barcelona, taking bronze in the 50m backstroke in 25.07, behind German Thomas Rupprath, who clocked a 24.80 world record, and Australian Matt Welsh in 25.01.
2009 — Cameron van der Burgh scores his first major 100m breaststroke success as he wins bronze at the world championships in Rome, touching in a 58.95 sec African record. Australian Brenton Rickard won in a 58.58 world record which the South Africa would break three years later at the Olympics.
2011 — Defending champion Cameron van der Burgh finishes third in the 50m breaststroke at the world championships in Shanghai as he touches in 27.19. Brazilian Felipe Silva won in 27.01.
2019 — Chad le Clos claims his second medal of the world championships in Gwangju, South Korea, as he wins bronze in the 100m butterfly in 51.16 sec. American Caeleb Dressel, who broke Michael Phelps’ 10-year-old world record in the semifinals the previous night going 49.50, won in 49.66. Russian Andrey Minakov was second in 50.83.
2021 — Team South Africa land two Olympic silver medals on the same day at the Tokyo Games, courtesy of swimmer Tatjana Schoenmaker and surfer Bianca Buitendag. Schoenmaker finished second behind American Lydia Jacoby in the 100m breaststroke, touching in 1 min 05.22 sec. The winning time was 1:04.95, though had Schoenmaker come close to the 1:04.82 Olympic record she clocked in the heats, she would have taken gold. That was the first time a South African swimmer had made an Olympic podium where the finals were swum in the morning to accommodate US prime-time TV. The same system was used at Beijing 2008, where South Africa had no success. Buitendag, who had been in semi-retirement before qualifying for the Games, beat two of the three top seeds on her way to the final, where she lost to No 1 Carissa Moore of the US. Seeded 17th out of 20, the South African mastered washing machine-like conditions, caused by an approaching typhoon, downing America’s second seeded Caroline Marks in the semifinals and Yolanda Hopkins of Portugal, the ninth seed, in the quarterfinals. She beat Australia’s No 3 Stephanie Gilmore in the third round. Buitendag, who lives in George, had a challenging start of the year, finding enterprising ways to practise with local beaches being closed because of the Covid-19 pandemic, like going out on a fishing boat and catching waves from there.
Games history
Olympic Blasts!: Cameron van der Burgh wins bronze in Rome, winning gold in London 3 years later
Today in Olympic history: July 27
1947 — Three South Africans strike success at the French championships, with Eric Sturgess taking both the men’s doubles and mixed doubles crowns. He and countryman Eustace Fannin won the men’s doubles by beating American Tom Brown and Bill Sidwell of Australia 6-4 4-6 6-4 6-3. Then Sturgess teamed up with another compatriot, Sheila Summers, to take the mixed doubles mantle by beating Christian Caralulis of Romania and Pole Jadwiga Jedrzejowska 6-0 6-0. Sturgess also made the final of the men’s singles, losing 6-8 5-7 4-6 to Jozsef Asboth of Hungary.
1952 — Esther Brand becomes the first woman from Africa to win an Olympic gold medal when she takes the high jump title at the Helsinki Games. She was the only one in the field to clear 1.67m, though she would have still beaten Briton Sheila Lerwill on countback if she’d not improved on the 1.65m they both cleared in the ninth round of competition.
2003 — Gerhard Zandberg wins South Africa’s only medal of the world championships in Barcelona, taking bronze in the 50m backstroke in 25.07, behind German Thomas Rupprath, who clocked a 24.80 world record, and Australian Matt Welsh in 25.01.
2009 — Cameron van der Burgh scores his first major 100m breaststroke success as he wins bronze at the world championships in Rome, touching in a 58.95 sec African record. Australian Brenton Rickard won in a 58.58 world record which the South Africa would break three years later at the Olympics.
2011 — Defending champion Cameron van der Burgh finishes third in the 50m breaststroke at the world championships in Shanghai as he touches in 27.19. Brazilian Felipe Silva won in 27.01.
2019 — Chad le Clos claims his second medal of the world championships in Gwangju, South Korea, as he wins bronze in the 100m butterfly in 51.16 sec. American Caeleb Dressel, who broke Michael Phelps’ 10-year-old world record in the semifinals the previous night going 49.50, won in 49.66. Russian Andrey Minakov was second in 50.83.
2021 — Team South Africa land two Olympic silver medals on the same day at the Tokyo Games, courtesy of swimmer Tatjana Schoenmaker and surfer Bianca Buitendag. Schoenmaker finished second behind American Lydia Jacoby in the 100m breaststroke, touching in 1 min 05.22 sec. The winning time was 1:04.95, though had Schoenmaker come close to the 1:04.82 Olympic record she clocked in the heats, she would have taken gold. That was the first time a South African swimmer had made an Olympic podium where the finals were swum in the morning to accommodate US prime-time TV. The same system was used at Beijing 2008, where South Africa had no success. Buitendag, who had been in semi-retirement before qualifying for the Games, beat two of the three top seeds on her way to the final, where she lost to No 1 Carissa Moore of the US. Seeded 17th out of 20, the South African mastered washing machine-like conditions, caused by an approaching typhoon, downing America’s second seeded Caroline Marks in the semifinals and Yolanda Hopkins of Portugal, the ninth seed, in the quarterfinals. She beat Australia’s No 3 Stephanie Gilmore in the third round. Buitendag, who lives in George, had a challenging start of the year, finding enterprising ways to practise with local beaches being closed because of the Covid-19 pandemic, like going out on a fishing boat and catching waves from there.
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