Eugene Botes

Eugene Botes
Personal information
Full name Eugene Botes
National team  South Africa
Born (1980-06-09) 9 June 1980
Vanderbijlpark, South Africa
Height 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight 101 kg (223 lb)
Sport
Sport Swimming
Strokes Butterfly
Club Suburban Swim Club (U.S.)[1]
College team Pennsylvania State University
(U.S.)
Coach Charlie Kennedy (U.S.)[1]

Eugene Botes (born June 9, 1980) is a South African former swimmer, who specialized in butterfly events.[2] He became the first swimmer to represent his country South Africa in international tournaments, while playing for the Penn State Nittany Lions in his senior season. He also holds a dual citizenship between South Africa and the United States.[1]

Botes qualified for two swimming events at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. He established a South African record and a FINA A-standard entry time of 53.20 (100 m butterfly) from the USA National Championships in College Park, Maryland.[3][4] In the 100 m butterfly, Botes challenged seven other swimmers on the sixth heat, including top medal favorites Andriy Serdinov and Denys Sylantyev of Ukraine. He edged out Mexico's Joshua Ilika Brenner to notch a seventh spot and thirtieth overall by 0.15 of a second in 54.15.[5][6]

Botes also teamed up with Gerhard Zandberg, Terence Parkin, and Karl Otto Thaning in the 4×100 m medley relay. Swimming the butterfly leg in heat two, Botes recorded a time of 54.57, but the South Africans rounded out the field to last place and thirteenth overall with a final time of 3:43.94.[7][8]

Botes is also a graduate of computer science at the Pennsylvania State University in University Park, Pennsylvania. He previously trained for the Suburban Swim Club under his long-time coach and mentor Charlie Kennedy.[1]

References

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