South Africa

        

          Proudly South African!

 

I wanted to comment on this earlier but never got round to it, so here it is -- Roland, we need more people like you! You are truly an inspiration to the rest of us with your fierce patriotism and dedication to our country. I really enjoyed reading your piece in the Sunday Times because too seldom these days do we hear sentiments of pride being expressed about our country:

 

The proudest moment in my life was standing on the podium with my relay teammates at the 2004 Athens Olympics, seeing the South African flag hoisted high and listening to Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika.

 

I cannot describe the emotions that went through me that day.

 

At the world championships this year, I became the first man in the world to swim a sub-23 second 50m butterfly. I’m also only a whisker away from breaking the 50m freestyle record, and I’m trying as hard as dammit to do the same in the 100m freestyle. But I can tell you now that feelings of personal achievement don’t quite match the emotions of achieving something for your country.

 

Great stuff! Unfortunately, it seems South Africa hasn't been as proud or supportive of Schoeman as he has been of South Africa :

 

However, I have to admit I was very disappointed when I came back to South Africa after the world championships and couldn’t increase my sponsorships. I was euphoric about my achievements and I was certain I would be successful in extending my sponsorship base in my home country. It became clear to me that, apart from my existing sponsors who have been very supportive of me and for which I am extremely grateful, there were no other organisations at the time that were queuing up to sponsor me.

 

It could be that I have been extremely bad at selecting an agent able to obtain extra sponsorship for me. But it became so bad that my agent could not even secure a cellphone for me — just a cellphone, not even a contract or prepaid. Just the handset!

 

I left South Africa feeling dejected and disheartened.

 

This is totally unacceptable and needs to change immediately; we can't let such a fine South African be left in a lurch like this. I was very heartened to read last week of a South African expat living in Canada who pledged R250 000 in sponsorship for Schoeman for next year (respect Dr. Sieg Heydenrych). This is more than admirable, but at the end of the day it is the Corporates who need to step up to the plate and put their money where their mouths are (yes I'm talking about all of you "Proudly South Africa" Co.'s). 

 

The editorial of the Sunday Times sums it up nicely when it says :

 

But it seems that too few locals truly appreciate his worth. SA owes Schoeman a lot more than a thank you.

 

You're damn right!

 

Checkout Roland's site here