|
Ryk Neethling Profile |
|
-
Birth Date: November 17, 1977
-
Birth Place: Bloemfontein, South Africa
-
Birth Name: Ryk Neethling
|
|
|
Biography |
Ryk Neethling is one of the most successful swimmers in
history to compete for the University of Arizona and the
Republic of South Africa. Ryk has participated in the last
three Olympic Games for South Africa, culminating with a
Gold Medal and World Record performance in the 2004 Olympics
in Athens, Greece. Currently, Neethling holds the South
African record in five different events and ranks in the top
ten in the world in both the 50, 100, 200 Freestyle and
Individual Medleys. Yet it is his success as an
intercollegiate swimmer at the University of Arizona that
elevated him to become one of the most highly regarded
athletes in Tucson and the International swimming community.
Ryk’s collegiate athletic career at Arizona was unmatched,
leading to nine individual NCAA Championships and the
Arizona Athlete of the Century Award.
Ryk, was born and raised in Bloemfontein, South Africa. He
was raised by his parents Ryk and San-Marie with his two
sisters Elsje and Jean-Marie. Growing up in a close knit
family, Ryk learned the meaning of competition and
determination. His sister, Elsje, was diagnosed with brain
tumors at the age of twelve and endured three brain
surgeries before recovering fully. Throughout her treatment,
she continued swimming, never giving up her hope,
determination, and passion while fighting for her life. It
was this mentality that Ryk adopted in his swimming that led
him to his international and collegiate success.
Ryk attended all of his schooling prior to the University of
Arizona at Grey College in South Africa; the third
generation of Neethling’s to attend. One of the most
prestigious institutions in South Africa, Grey College, was
attended by former South African presidents and other
influential politicians.
At the age of 6, Ryk started taking water safety lessons
after a near fatal drowning incident at a neighbor’s house,
and immediately took to the water. Ryk quickly became a
national force in the age groups, but international
sanctions due to the apartheid always put a damper on South
African athlete's celebrations and dreams. Unable to compete
in any international competitions because of these
sanctions, South Africa's top swimmers were forced to attend
American universities to compete against the best in the
world. But Ryk was fortunate enough to be surrounded by some
of the top swimmers in South Africa at his club in
Bloemfontein and soon realized his dreams of competing in
the Olympics might be attainable. It was during this time
that Ryk started dreaming about going to the US to study and
swim and to make his Olympic dream a reality.
In 1995, at the age of 17, several colleges began recruiting
Ryk for swimming scholarships. At this point, he had never
visited the United States and barely spoke English. He was
recruited by swimming powerhouses Michigan, Stanford,
Southern California, and ASU. At that time, Michigan was his
first choice because of their history of great distance
swimmers. When Michigan did not guarantee him an athletic
scholarship and he began seriously considering other
programs, he first thought of the University of Arizona. Ryk
had received a package from Arizona Head Swim Coach Frank
Busch which included pictures of the Hillenbrand pool and
McKale Center in the swimming media guide. For some reason,
after staring at the picture of the pool and becoming
mesmerized by the mountains set in the background, Ryk
envisioned himself training in that pool. He soon committed
to Arizona and enrolled in the fall of 1996, immediately
following the Atlanta Olympic Games. Throughout the four
years he competed for Arizona, he had several opportunities
to show Michigan the recruiting error they had made. Ryk had
become one of the most successful intercollegiate swimmers
in history.
During his career at Arizona, Ryk’s success in athletics was
unparalleled. He was a nine-time NCAA National Champion (2nd
most in history). He was voted Arizona Athlete of the Year
and PAC-10 Swimmer of the year for four consecutive years.
In 1999, the NCAA named him the Swimmer of the Year, the
highest honor in intercollegiate swimming. He also earned
other Arizona honors such as the Sapphire Award Winner in
2000. But the most prestigious award he received during his
collegiate career was the University of Arizona Athlete of
the Century Award, over other influential Arizona athletes
such as Annika Sorrenstan, Chrissy Ahman, Jason Terry, Amy
Skieresz, Jenny Finch, and Abdi Abdirahman.
Ryk began participating in international competition for the
country of South Africa in 1993 and continued throughout his
career at Arizona. Since, Ryk has held over 20 junior
national records and 22 South African National titles. He
has represented South Africa and medaled in three
Commonwealth Games, the most in South African history. He
has also been a five-time finalist in the Olympics and the
World Championships, participating in the 1996, 2000 & 2004
Olympic Games.
In the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Ryk participated as a
member of the South Africa 4x100 Freestyle Relay, anchoring
the team to a Gold Medal and World Record (3:13.17)
performance. Ryk also made the finals in the 100m Freestyle,
placing 4th overall.
During the 2004/2005 FINA World Cup Series Ryk continued his
success in the pool by dominating the 200m Freestyle and
100m IM with record breaking performances.
Currently, Ryk is based in Johannesburg, South Africa. He is
coached by Dean Price and is enjoying being back in South
Africa. Ryk continues to travel to international
competitions to represent South Africa and in 2004 he
competed in the World Championships in Montreal and the FINA
World Cup 2005/6 series in Durban, Sydney and Korea. Ryk has
just returned from the Sweden leg of the FINA World Cup and
currently is the leading the points table.
Ryk has been fortunate to have received great support from
South Africans since he returned home and has signed
lucrative sponsorship deals with Vodacom, Telkom, Red Bull,
TAG International, Aramis, Polo, Bokomo, The Bay, Arena
International, USN and SIMpill.
In the next two months Ryk will be competing in the Brazil
leg of the FINA World Cup and in March he will be
representing South Africa at the Commonwealth Games in
Melbourne, Australia.
Ryk continues his training and has his eyes set on the 2008
Olympics in Beijing. |
|
|
|
