Douglas John Erasmus (born 4 April 1990) is a South African

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

who qualified to compete at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

held in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, Brazil.

Personal life

Erasmus is studying for a Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com.) degree in marketing at the

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria ( af, Universiteit van Pretoria, nso, Yunibesithi ya Pretoria) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa. The university was ...

Swimming

Erasmus is coached by Igor Omeltchenko in Pretoria. He competed at the 2013 Summer Universiade games held in

Kazan Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering a ...

, Russia, reaching the semifinals of the 50 metre freestyle. At the

2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships The 2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, also known as the 2014 Hancock Prospecting Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, a long course (50 m) event, was held in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, from 21 to 25 August 2014. Qualifying cr ...

, he raced in the 50 metre freestyle,

100 metre freestyle The 100 metre freestyle is often considered to be the highlight (Blue Ribbon event) of the sport of swimming, like 100 metres in the sport of Athletics. The first swimmer to break the one-minute barrier (long course) was Johnny Weissmuller, in 1 ...

, the 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay, and the 4 × 100 metre medley relay. He was eliminated in the heats of both individual events. In both relays, he was part of South African quartets that finished seventh. During the meet, he injured his shoulder, which resulted in him missing four months of competition. His results at the 2015 South African National Championships qualified him for the 2015 Summer Universiade games held in

Gwangju Gwangju () is South Korea's sixth-largest metropolis. It is a designated metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home Minister. The city was also the capital of South Jeolla Province until the provincial office ...

, South Korea, in the 50 and 100 metre freestyle events. He advanced from the heats in both events but was eliminated in the semifinals, having placed seventh in the 50 metres race and eighth in the 100 metres. He represented South Africa at the

2015 African Games The 11th African Games took place from September 4–19, 2015 in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo. This edition marked the 50th anniversary of the Games, as well as their return to Brazzaville, which hosted the first edition in 1965. Host aw ...

in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo, winning gold medals in the 50 metre freestyle and the 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay. At the 2016 South Africa Swimming Championships and Olympic trials, Erasmus was the fastest of over 100 competitors in the heats of the 100 metres freestyle event, setting a new personal best of 49.54 seconds. In the semifinals, he won his race in a time of 49.85 seconds. He eventually finished third in the final behind

Calvyn Justus Calvyn Justus (born 14 December 1995) is a South African swimmer. He competed in the men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He is an alumnus of Westville Boys' High School. In 2018, Justus placed third in the 4x ...

and

Myles Brown Devon Myles William Brown (born 21 May 1992) is a South African swimmer who attended Highbury Preparatory School in Hillcrest. and Kearsney College in Botha's Hill. He competed at the 2014 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m), at the 2015 ...

. In the 50 metre freestyle event, Erasmus finished his heat in 22.26 seconds, one-hundredth of a second faster than the Olympic qualification standard. He finished second in the final behind

Brad Tandy Bradley Edward Tandy (born 2 May 1991) is a South African Olympic swimmer. He represented his country at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He competed in the 50 m freestyle event and placed 6th overall with a time of 21.79 seconds. In 2018, Tandy plac ...

in a time of 22.55 seconds but ahead of four-time Olympian

Roland Schoeman Roland Mark Schoeman OIS (born 4 July 1980) is a South African American swimmer and was a member of the South African swimming team at the 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games. In May 2022, he officially became United States citizen. Ca ...

. In May 2016, the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) named him as part of the South African team for the

held in

, Brazil, where he competed in the men's 50 metre freestyle event. He finished 29th in the heats with a time of 22.37 seconds and did not qualify for the semifinals.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erasmus, Douglas 1990 births Living people African Games gold medalists for South Africa African Games medalists in swimming Swimmers at the 2015 African Games Swimmers at the 2019 African Games South African male freestyle swimmers Olympic swimmers for South Africa Sportspeople from Benoni Swimmers from Gauteng Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Olympics University of Pretoria alumni 21st-century South African people