VIDEO: Training with Chad le Clos
Yesterday I thought I would pop in and visit my old coach Graham Hill to see what his team is up to.
Hill's Seagulls Swim Team was in the full swing of things as 12 of his swimmers will be jetting off to Australia this weekend to start the year's racing.
The 12-strong team includes the likes of Chad Le Clos, Leith Shankland, Troyden Prinsloo and Charl Crous.
They are unlikely to have it easy Down Under as they are still in hard training and will continue to train while competing.
For some it is going to be a very busy year's racing with the Commonwealth Games, World Cup Series, South African Nationals and many other major events all taking place this year.
Every meet the swimmers compete in now will be important leading up to the 2016 Olympics.
It is a great way for the possible Olympians to gauge where they are in their preparation and to see whether or not they are on track or need to step up their game.
I managed to catch up with Hill and hear of some really exciting projects in the pipeline that will be hitting Durban soon.
It was great to see that top Brazilian and Hungarian swimmers had also made their way to Durban to train under Hill.
Judging by what I saw yesterday, it is going to be a very exciting few years leading up to the Olympics.
(File Photo:Gallo Images)
- Alain Tardin
Twitter - @SportswaveAndre @AlainTardin @ECRSportswave