Schoeman defies age to take two golds

Roland Schoeman of South Africa (Image by: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)

Four-time Olympian Roland Schoeman has raced to a double gold on the first day of the second leg of the Fina World Cup Swimming in Berlin.

“I’m incredibly blessed to be able to do something I love,” said Schoeman after his victories on Saturday..

“I am living proof that if you believe in yourself and work hard at achieving your goals, anything is possible, no matter your age or your background.”

The 33 year-old veteran improved on both performances in Eindhoven, earlier in the week, as he edged closer to the world records.

Schoeman won the men 50m breaststroke in a fast 25.65 seconds, to close within 0.4 seconds of Cameron van der Burgh’s world mark.

He then turned the tables on Germany’s Steffen Diebler in the 50m butterfly where he clocked a rapid 22.05 – just 0.25 seconds outside Diebler’s world mark.

Chad le Clos kept the South African flag flying with another dominant performance in the men 200m butterfly, winning again in 1:49.90.

He followed up with another third place in the 50m butterfly in 22.53sec.

Myles Brown raced to a bronze medal in the men’s 400m freestyle in 3:41.36 while Darian Townsend showed signs of recovering from his stomach bug, finishing in sixth place in the men 100m individual medley in 52.91sec.

Sapa