Winning the Olympic gold medal in a world-record time of 58.46 seconds had been the greatest high in Cameron van der Burgh’s illustrious swimming career.
Reaching the pinnacle of his sport had been the result of years of hard work winning South Africa’s first medal of the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Van der Burgh found the ascension from cloud nine hard to deal with as he suffered a bit of post-Olympic depression.
This was evident in his swimming, and one could sense the passion he had once exuded had been drained in the two years following the Games.
Despite the reduced enthusiasm, Van der Burgh still won the 50m breaststroke gold medal and finishing second in the 100m event at the 2013 Fina World Championships.
A niggling shoulder injury compounded his woes in 2014 which also see the emergence of Van der Burgh’s bête noire.
It was the year British teenager Adam Peaty would rise to prominence sparking one of the great swimming rivalries of the last few years.
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