14 February 2006

One of South African swimming’s golden boys, Ryk Neethling, clinched the overall short-course World Cup title at Belo Horizonte, Brazil, on the weekend for the second year in succession.

Competing in Belo Horizonte, he won one of the four races he contested, surprisingly losing out to Canada's Brent Hayden in both the men’s 100 metres and 200 metres freestyle.

However, over the course of the season, Neethling, while not as dominant as in the 2005 season when he set a number of world records, was again consistently excellent, notching 16 wins in the eight World Cup meetings. His blistering start in Durban, where he scored six victories, saw him head the list all season long.

Good money
The overall title was worth $50 000 to Neethling. In addition, he won $1 500 for each individual win, making the World Cup series a very lucrative source of income for the South African star.

In the 2005 season he recorded 21 victories. His performances included breaking the 100 metres individual medley world record on three occasions, ironically in the three cities he skipped in 2006.

With the Commonwealth Games set to start in mid-March, Neethling used the World Cup series to assist him in his training. Because of that, there has been no time for him to rest following his World Cup win; it is straight back to training, with an eye on a gold medal or two in Melbourne.

Neethling's World Cup wins

Durban

	Former President Nelson Mandela takes a look at the gold medal Ryk Neethling won at the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004 (Photo: Ryk Neethling Official Website)

	Champs defend Midmar Mile titles Roland and Ryk on the podium Ryk Neethling, king of swim SA swimmers stun the world South African sports trivia

	FINA  Ryk Neethling  Swimming South Africa