OLYMPIC silver medallist Cameron van der Burgh wants more podium finishes at the Fina World Swimming Championships in Ontario, Canada, from 6-11 December.
Van der Burgh, who bagged a silver medal in the 100m breaststroke at the Rio Olympic last month, is currently ranked No 3 in the world in his event. The swimmer, who clinched a gold medal at the London Olympics four years ago, had to settle for silver in Rio when he clocked 58.69 seconds to finish behind Adam Peaty of Great Britain (57.13sec).
After the Rio Olympics he was involved in the Fina World Cup in Paris, France, where he collected a gold medal in the 50m breaststroke with a time of 25.98sec.
Speaking about his Rio experience at his sponsors Investec’s headquarters in Joburg yesterday, Van der Burgh said he believed he still had some unfinished business at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.
He said: “I will be 32 in Japan. After that I can retire from the sport, hopefully as a gold medallist again. At the moment my focus is on the World Champs in December. I want to do well and keep winning. I feel I still have four years left in me to win more big races.”
Van der Burgh’s biggest dream is to become a triple Olympic medallist. No South African swimmer has won three successive medals at different Olympics, but he is convinced he can become the first swimmer to achieve that feat.
He said: “I can do it because I believe in myself. I’m going to take a short break and then get back to the gym to resume my full training programme. I won’t rest on my laurels.”
