HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Corney Swanepoel (born 17 March 1986 in
Potchefstroom, South Africa Potchefstroom ( ; ), colloquially known as Potch, is an academic city in the North West Province of South Africa. It hosts the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University. Potchefstroom is on the Mooirivier (Afrikaans for "pretty ri ...
) is a former competitive swimmer who represented
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
at the
2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
and
2008 Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fr ...
. Swanepoel moved to New Zealand in 2002 and attended
Rangitoto College Rangitoto College is a state coeducational secondary school, located on the North Shore City, North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. Serving years 9 to 13, Rangitoto has a school roll of as of making it the largest "brick-and-mortar" school in ...
. During his decorated career, Swanepoel competed in four World Championships, two World Championships (25m), as well as the 2006 Commonwealth Games and 2006 Pan Pacific Championships. He was part of the 4x100 metre medley relay team that won the bronze medal at the 2008 World Championships (25m) and claimed numerous Oceania Championships medals including winning the 50 metre butterfly three times in a row between 2004 and 2008. Swanepoel still holds New Zealand long course, short course, relay and age group records as well as Oceania Championship records. Following his retirement in 2012, Swanepoel has worked in business.


Swimming career

As a junior in South Africa, Swanepoel trained at the Dolphins Swim Club in Potchefstroom before moving to the Vineyard Swim Club in Cape Town. He was named ASB Young Sports Person of the year in 2004.


2003 World championships

Swanepoel's first major senior international meet for New Zealand was the
2003 World Aquatics Championships The 10th FINA World Aquatics Championships were held July 12–27, 2003 in Barcelona, Spain. The championships featured competition in all 5 of FINA's disciplines: Swimming, Diving, Synchronised swimming, Water Polo, and Open Water Swimming. ...
in
Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
, Spain. He finished 19th in the 100 metre butterfly in a time of 53.95 and 31st in the 50 metre butterfly in a time of 24.80.


2004 Oceania championships

Swanepoel completed the butterfly double at the 2004
Oceania Swimming Championships The Oceania Swimming Championships are currently held every 2 years, in even years. They are organized by the Oceania Swimming Association, and feature teams representing countries and islands from that region.Suva Suva (, ) is the Capital city, capital and the most populous city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rew ...
, Fiji with gold medals in the 50 metre butterfly in a time of 24.25 and in the 100 metre butterfly in a time of 53.30. The time set by Swanepoel in the 100 metre butterfly was a championship record thatlasted until 2008. He also claimed a silver medal in the 4x100 metre medley relay alongside
Scott Talbot-Cameron Scott Thomas Talbot, also Talbot-Cameron (born 13 July 1981) is an Australian-born swimmer and swimming coach who represented New Zealand in swimming from 1997 to 2006 and has worked as a coach in several countries. Early life Talbot is the so ...
,
Ben Labowitch Ben-Rachmiel Labowitch (born 1 July 1980) is a New Zealand former swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. Since his mother is a New Zealand citizen, Labowitch claims a dual citizenship which allowed him to try out and make the New Zeal ...
and
Cameron Gibson Cameron Michael Gibson (born 14 August 1982 in Auckland) is a New Zealand swimming competitor. He won a bronze medal in the 200m backstroke at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in a time of 2:00.72 minutes. He competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics an ...
.


2004 Olympics

Swanepoel qualified for the
2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...
at New Zealand nationals when he swim 52.50 and in the process, broke the New Zealand record despite still being at school. After swimming 53.07 in the heats of the 100 metre butterfly, Swanepoel moved into the semi-finals ranked 15th, before improving his time again to 52.99 although this was not good enough to progress, finishing in 13th overall. Combining with
Scott Talbot-Cameron Scott Thomas Talbot, also Talbot-Cameron (born 13 July 1981) is an Australian-born swimmer and swimming coach who represented New Zealand in swimming from 1997 to 2006 and has worked as a coach in several countries. Early life Talbot is the so ...
,
Ben Labowitch Ben-Rachmiel Labowitch (born 1 July 1980) is a New Zealand former swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. Since his mother is a New Zealand citizen, Labowitch claims a dual citizenship which allowed him to try out and make the New Zeal ...
and
Cameron Gibson Cameron Michael Gibson (born 14 August 1982 in Auckland) is a New Zealand swimming competitor. He won a bronze medal in the 200m backstroke at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in a time of 2:00.72 minutes. He competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics an ...
in the 4x100 metre medley relay, the team finished 12th in a time of 3:42.74.


2004 Commonwealth Youth Games

Concluding the year, Swanepoel put together an impressive performance at the
2004 Commonwealth Youth Games The 2004 Commonwealth Youth Games, officially known as the II Commonwealth Youth Games, and commonly known as Bendigo 2004, an international sporting event that was held from 30 November to 3 December 2004 in the small city of Bendigo, Australia. ...
held in
Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is an Australian city in north-central Victoria. The city is located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2022, Bendigo has a popula ...
, Australia. Swanepoel took home individual gold medals in the 50 metre freestyle (23.83), 50 metre butterfly (24.66) and 100 metre butterfly (53.90) sharing the podium with teammate Matt Thomas who finished second in both the butterfly events. He was also part of the 4x100 metre medley team that won gold (John Zulch, Glenn Synders and Dean Burger), the 4x100 metre freestyle team that won silver (Thomas, Burger and John Zulch) and the 4x200 metre freestyle team that won bronze (Burger, Zulch and Bryn Murphy). He also finished 4th in the 100 metre freestyle in a time of 52.53.


2005 World championships

At the
2005 World Aquatics Championships The 2005 World Aquatics Championships () or the XI FINA World Championships were held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from July 16 to July 31, 2005. They took place in Parc Jean-Drapeau on Saint Helen's Island. Competition Medal standings :''o ...
in
Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
, Canada, Swanepoel narrowly missed the semi-finals of the 100 metre butterfly in a 53.62, finishing behind compatriot
Moss Burmester Moss James Burmester (born 19 June 1981) is a New Zealand swimmer and diver. His specialist event is the 200m butterfly in which he holds the Commonwealth record of 1:54.35 set at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Burmester was born in Hastings, New Z ...
. He also competed in the 50 metre butterfly, finishing 25th in a time of 24.56, and in the
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, symbolizing the pinnacle of speed and athleticism in swimming competitions. The first swimm ...
in a time of 52.34.


2006 Commonwealth Games

Swanepoel competed at the
2006 Commonwealth games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006, were an International sport, international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Melbourne ...
held in
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
, Australia. In the final of the 100 meter butterfly, Swanepoel finished 4th in a time of 53.14 behind
Ryan Pini Ryan John Pini MBE (born 10 December 1981 in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea) is a 4-time Olympic swimmer from Papua New Guinea. He swam for PNG at the 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016 Olympics; also serving as the PNG flagbearer in 2008 and 2016. H ...
of
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...
,
Michael Klim Michael George Klim, OAM (born 13 August 1977) is an Australian swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, world champion, and former world record-holder of the 1990s and 2000s. He is known as the creator of straight-arm freestyle. Early years Klim was ...
of
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
and Burmester. In the 50 metre butterfly, Swanepoel exited in the semi-finals after recording a time of 24.30. He also swum in the heats of the 4x100 metre medley relay.


2006 World championships

Swanepoel was back in the pool racing a month later at the
2006 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) The 8th FINA World Aquatics, formerly known as FINA (; ), is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administering international competitions in List of water sports, water sports. It is one o ...
held in
Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
, China. He finished in 29th in the 50 metre butterfly in a time of 24.43, and 33rd in the 100 metre butterfly in a time of 54.22 in his individual events, while again helped qualify the 4x100 metre mixed medley relay into the final.


2006 Oceania championships

Racing at the 2006 Oceania Swimming Championships in
Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
, Australia, Swanepool claimed gold medals in the 50 meter butterfly in a time of 24.33 and the 100 meter butterfly in a time of 54.51. He was also part of the 4x100 metre medley relay team alongside Zulch, Synders and Robert Voss that finished second behind Australia. Swanepoel was named male swimmer of the meet at the conclusion of racing.


2006 Pan-Pacific Games

Capping off a busy 2006, Swanepoel raced at the
2006 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships The tenth edition of the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, a long course (50 m) event, was held in 2006 in Victoria, British Columbia, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, from August 17–20. Six List of world records in swimming, worl ...
held in
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...
, Canada. His best result was an 8th place in the B-Final of the 100 metre butterfly in a time of 54.52. He also finished in 29th in the 50 metre freestyle in a time of 23.51, and 41st in the 100 metre freestyle in a time of 51.63 (and just ahead of team mate Michael Jack). In relays, Swanepoel led off the 4x100 metre freestyle relay alongside Jack, Voss and Gibson with the team finishing 5th in the final but anchored the 4x100 metre medley relay along with Zulch, Snyders and Burmester that finished 6th.


2007 World championships

At the
2007 World Aquatics Championships The 2007 World Aquatics Championships, or the XII FINA World Championships, were held in Melbourne, Australia from 17 March to 1 April 2007. The competition took place at three locations in central Melbourne: the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic C ...
held in
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
, Australia, Swanepoel reached the semi-finals of the 100 metre butterfly. However, his time of 52.46 in the heats was faster than his semi-finals swim of 52.94. He then finished 20th in the 50 metre butterfly in a time of 24.20. The 4x100 metre medley relay team of Gibson, Snyders, Swanepoel and
Mark Herring Mark Rankin Herring (born September 25, 1961) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 47th Attorney General of Virginia from 2014 to 2022. A Democrat, he previously served in the Senate of Virginia since a 2006 special election, ...
did not progress to the final of the event.


2007 Summer Universiade

Swanepoel raced at the
2007 Summer Universiade The 2007 Summer Universiade officially known as the XXIV Summer Universiade and commonly known as Bangkok Universiade, was an international multi-sport for university athletes that took place from 8 to 18 August 2007 in Bangkok, Thailand, with pr ...
held in
Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...
, Thailand. He finished 4th equal alongside Johannes Dietrich in the 50 metre butterfly in a time of 24.07, and 5th in the 100 meter butterfly in a time of 53.14, narrowly in front of compatriot Burmester.


2008 World championships

Building into the Olympic year, Swanepoel put together arguable his best set of results at an international meet during the
2008 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) The 9th FINA Swimming World Championships (25 m) were held at the Manchester Arena, in Manchester, United Kingdom 9–13 April 2008. The United States topped the medal table with 10 gold medals, though host team Great Britain Great B ...
held in
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
, United Kingdom. He finished in 6th place in the final of the 100 metre butterfly in a time of 51.20 and narrowly missed the final of the 50 metre butterfly by one spot in a time of 23.31. Despite qualifying 8th in the final of the 4x100 metre medley relay, the quartet of
Daniel Bell Daniel Bell (May 10, 1919 – January 25, 2011) was an American sociologist, writer, editor, and professor at Harvard University, best known for his contributions to the study of post-industrialism. He has been described as "one of the leading ...
, Snyders, Swanepoel and Gibson claimed the bronze medal ahead of Australia, Great Britain and Brazil.


2008 Oceania championships

Taking part in his third Oceania Championships, this time held in
Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...
, New Zealand. Swanepoel won the 50 meter butterfly for a third straight competition and set a new championship record that still stands today of 23.98 in the process. However, he could not defend his 100 meter butterfly title that he had won in 2004 and 2006 as
Ryan Pini Ryan John Pini MBE (born 10 December 1981 in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea) is a 4-time Olympic swimmer from Papua New Guinea. He swam for PNG at the 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016 Olympics; also serving as the PNG flagbearer in 2008 and 2016. H ...
from
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...
backed up his 2006 Commonwealth Games gold medal. Swanepoel combined with Bell, Snyders and Gibson to set a new championship record in a time of 3:38.62 that also still remains today.


2008 Olympic Games

Swanepoel competed at the
2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...
held in Beijing, China. He made the semi-finals of the 100 metre butterfly in a time of 51.78 and in the process broke the New Zealand record. In the semi-finals, he finished 6th in a time of 52.01. He was also part of the 4x100 metre medley relay team alongside Bell, Snyders and Gibson that finished an impressive 5th place and set a new New Zealand record in a time of 3:33.39. Swanepoel was sent home before the end of the event with fellow swimmers Gibson and Dean Kent after an incident involving a drunk teammate.


2009 World championships

At the 2009 World Aquatics Championships held in Rome, Italy, Swanepoel set a new New Zealand record in the 50 metre butterfly in the heats with a time of 23.40. He eventually finished 15th in the semi-finals in a time of 23.50. In the 100 metre butterfly, Swanepoel also made the semi-final with a 51.71 before finishing 16th overall in a time of 51.79. Despite the 4x100 metre mixed relay team from the 2008 Summer Olympics combining again, as well as swimming faster, in what would be a new New Zealand record that still remains today, the team failed to make the final. Swanepoel retired from swimming after missing selection for the
2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
. He currently holds the New Zealand Records in the 50 metre butterfly short course at 22.60 (2009), 100 metre butterfly short course at 50.42 (2009) and 100 metre butterfly long course at 51.61 (2009). Swanepoel's 4x100 metre medley relay record set at the 2009 World championships alongside
Daniel Bell Daniel Bell (May 10, 1919 – January 25, 2011) was an American sociologist, writer, editor, and professor at Harvard University, best known for his contributions to the study of post-industrialism. He has been described as "one of the leading ...
, Glenn Synders and
Cameron Gibson Cameron Michael Gibson (born 14 August 1982 in Auckland) is a New Zealand swimming competitor. He won a bronze medal in the 200m backstroke at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in a time of 2:00.72 minutes. He competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics an ...
of 3:31.58 still remains also.


References


New Zealand Olympic Committee

New Zealand Records


External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Swanepoel, Corney 1986 births Living people Olympic swimmers for New Zealand South African emigrants to New Zealand Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) People educated at Rangitoto College New Zealand male butterfly swimmers Sportspeople from Potchefstroom 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen Swimmers at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Competitors at the 2007 Summer Universiade