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Johannesburg - Many swimmers will be more than happy to win 11 medals (6 gold and 5 silver) at the African Games in Brazzaville, but Karin Prinsloo is realistic.
“Don’t get me wrong. It is always special to do your country proud and I am very proud to have won 11 medals for South Africa. But I have to be honest with myself. If I want to qualify for next year’s Olympic Games in Rio I will have to swim faster times,” said Prinsloo.
According to the supersport.com website, the Tuks/HPC swimmer won the 200m-freestyle (2:00.14) and the 400m-freestyle (4:18.86). She was second in the 50m-freestyle (25.79s), the 100m-freestyle (55.69s), the 100m-backstroke (1:02.53) and the 200m-backstroke (2:14.31).
Prinsloo also teamed up to win gold in the 4x100 freestyle relay, the 4x200m freestyle relay, the 4x100m mixed freestyle relay, the 4x100 mixed relay and she was second in the 4x100m mixed medley relay.
Prinsloo is of the opinion that she can only blame herself for not swimming faster times.
“I did not have the best of starts to my season. First I had some back injury problems that prevented me from doing the training I needed to do and then I had to go for a tonsil operation. In my eagerness to be at my best again and swim the times I knew I was capable of I followed a new gym program which turned out to be a big mistake. The work I did in the gym was counter-productive to my swimming programme. I began to feel heavy and slow in the water. I am glad I made the mistake now and not next year in my final preparation for the Games,” she said.
“I now realize that I have to go back to the gym training I used to do in 2013 and 2014. I will also start running again because that worked for me.”
Prinsloo is planning to compete in the World Cup events in Doha and Dubai at the end of October. There is also a possibility that she will compete in more of the World Cup galas but she will first have to discuss it with her coach, Igor Omeltchenko. Her goal will be to come as close as she can to swimming the Olympic qualifying times for the 200m-freestyle, the 400m-freestyle and the 200m-backstroke.
“I think before the end of the year I have a realistic chance to qualify in the 200m-freestyle. My best time is 1:57.14 and the Olympic A-qualifying standard is 1:58.96. I am also not very far from qualifying for the 200m-backstroke. My best time is 2:10.34, which is 0.44 seconds faster than the Olympic standard.”
