Heerden Herman (born December 20, 1990) is a South African former Olympic freestyle swimmer. He trained at the Maties Swimming Club in

Stellenbosch Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronounc ...

with Pierre de Roubaix. The first time the swimming fraternity took note of him was at the Western Province Championships in December 2005, when, as a 14-year-old, he broke the 800 meter freestyle open record. In 2008 Heerden participated in the

FINA World Junior Swimming Championships The FINA World Junior Swimming Championships (or "Junior Worlds") is a swimming championship event organized by FINA for girls aged 14–17 and boys aged 15–18 on 31 December of the year of the competition. It is held biennially, and has been hel ...

Monterrey, Mexico Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...

where he won the gold in the 800 meter freestyle. At the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, f ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

he won the silver medal in the 1500 meter freestyle and as a member of the 4X200 meter freestyle relay team, they took the bronze. At the Western Province Championships in December 2010, Heerden swam a time of 14:57.88 in the 1500 meter freestyle, breaking

Ryk Neethling Ryk Neethling OIS (born 17 November 1977) is a South African businessman who rose to prominence as the three-times World Champion and four-times World Record Breaking Olympic swimming champion. He is known as one of the most accomplished swim ...

’s record and setting a new SA National Open record. With this swim he became the first South African, and the second swimmer from the African continent to finish the 1500m freestyle in less than 15 minutes. He ended the season being ranked number six in the world for the 1500 meter freestyle and under the top 20 in the world for both the 400m and 800m freestyle events. Heerden was one of only a handful of swimmers to qualify for more than one event for the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

– the 400 and 1500 meter freestyle events. Due to long-term illness he did not perform to his best at the Olympics and decided to retire. Heerden completed his university studies at

Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch University ( af, Universiteit Stellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant ...

with distinction at the end of 2013 and was awarded the

Rhodes Scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

to study at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

from 2014.

References

1990 births Living people Olympic swimmers for South Africa South African male freestyle swimmers Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming Stellenbosch University alumni Commonwealth Games silver medallists for South Africa Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for South Africa Swimmers at the 2010 Commonwealth Games South African expatriates in the United Kingdom Sportspeople from Pretoria Swimmers from Gauteng Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games {{SouthAfrica-swimming-bio-stub

See also

References