“Keep on keeping on,” the motto of local swimmer and gold medal winner Cameron van der Burgh while he was in matric at Crawford College Pretoria, has certainly paid off as he made the country proud by winning SA’s first gold medal in the London Olympics.
Van der Burgh not only won a medal but also set a new world record by winning the men’s 100m breaststroke in 58.46sec which was 0.12 seconds faster than the previous record held by Brenton Rickard of Australia.
Congratulations poured in yesterday for SA’s golden boy and a statement from the City of Tshwane read: “On behalf of the 2.5 million residents of the Capital City of South Africa, we would like to congratulate Cameron on his magnificent performance.
“We would also like to wish the rest of the team |well and call on all South Africans to support Team South Africa during the duration of the Olympics.
“In line with the City of Tshwane’s vision to become the leading African capital city of excellence, Van der Burgh is the pride of the continent by winning the first medal for Africa at the London Olympics.”
Minister of Sport and Recreation Fikile Mbalula praised Van der Burgh for his performance.
“Van der Burgh brought smiles and happiness to South African hearts. We knew and believed when Team SA took off that they would create waves and move mountains in London. We are now counted among the best in the world,” he said.
“I believe the best is yet to come out of London,” he said.
Crawford College principal André Botha said he was extremely proud of Van der Burgh.
“We are extremely proud of Cameron’s achievements at the 2012 Olympics and along with his countrymen would like to congratulate him on living his dream and being such an inspiration to fellow Crawfordians. We continue to support him and wish him well for the future,” Botha said.
Messages also poured in on social networks like Facebook and Twitter.
Moffat Mabaso wrote on Van der Burgh’s Facebook page: “Well done, you are a hero.”
Dolsie Naidoo wrote: “Well done Cameron! South Africa is very proud of you.”
Alene Candy said: “You have done our nation proud Cameron.”
Van der Burgh joined Crawford College as a Grade 10 pupil in 2004, said Botha.
“He specifically joined our school for its swimming programme which allowed him the freedom to pursue his swimming dream and complete his matric with the support of a dedicated team of teachers.
“During these years he often spent time out of class and out of the country,” he said.
Botha said Van der Burgh addressed one of the school assemblies in 2010 when he told the pupils about how to live a life in which you pursued your dreams – something which he had now done.
“He has always had a good business brain which is now being put to work as a BCom student,” Botha said.
