Eugene Botes (born 9 June 1980) is a South African former swimmer, who specialized in butterfly events. He became the first swimmer to represent his country South Africa in international tournaments, while playing for the

Penn State Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot is the Nittany Lion. The interc ...

in his senior season. He also holds a dual citizenship between South Africa and the United States. Botes qualified for two swimming events at the 2004 Summer Olympics in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh List ...

. He established a South African record and a FINA A-standard entry time of 53.20 (100 m butterfly) from the USA National Championships in

College Park, Maryland College Park is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, and is approximately four miles (6.4 km) from the northeast border of Washington, D.C. The population was 34,740 at the 2020 United States Census. It is best know ...

. In the

100 m butterfly 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

, Botes challenged seven other swimmers on the sixth heat, including top medal favorites Andriy Serdinov and

Denys Sylantyev Denys Olegovich Sylantyev ( uk, Денис Олегович Силантьєв; born 3 October 1976) is a Ukrainian politician and retired swimmer. He competed at four consecutive Olympics between 1996 and 2008 and who won a silver medal in th ...

of Ukraine. He edged out Mexico's

Joshua Ilika Brenner Joshua Brenner Ilika was born (September 14, 1976 in Celaya, Guanajuato) is a Mexican butterfly and freestyle swimmer, who began swimming at the age of three. He participated in the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics. See also *List of Mexican rec ...

to notch a seventh spot and thirtieth overall by 0.15 of a second in 54.15. Botes also teamed up with

Gerhard Zandberg Gerhard Zandberg (born 23 April 1983) is a retired Olympic swimmer from South Africa. He swam for South Africa at: *Olympics: 2004, 2008 *World Championships: 2003, 2007, 2009, 2011 *Commonwealth Games: 2006, 2010 *African Games: 2007, 2011 ...

Terence Parkin Terence Mike Parkin (born 12 April 1980 in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe) is a swimmer from South Africa, who won the silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in the 200m Breaststroke. Parkin, who is deaf, also competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics, as we ...

, and Karl Otto Thaning in the 4×100 m medley relay. Swimming the butterfly leg in heat two, Botes recorded a time of 54.57, but the South Africans rounded out the field to last place and thirteenth overall with a final time of 3:43.94. Botes is also a graduate of computer science at the

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State becam ...

University Park, Pennsylvania University Park (also referred to as Penn State University Park) is the name given to the Pennsylvania State University's main campus located in both State College and College Township, Pennsylvania, United States. The campus post office was de ...

. He previously trained for the Suburban Swim Club under his long-time coach and mentor Charlie Kennedy. Botes trained at

Media, Pennsylvania Media is a borough in and the county seat of Delaware County, Pennsylvania. It is located about west of Philadelphia, the sixth most populous city in the nation with 1.6 million residents as 2020. It is part of the Delaware Valley metropolita ...

's Hidden Hollow Swim Club where he also served as head lifeguard.

References

1980 births Living people Olympic swimmers for South Africa Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics South African male butterfly swimmers People from Vanderbijlpark South African emigrants to the United States Penn State Nittany Lions men's swimmers Pennsylvania State University alumni Swimmers from Gauteng {{SouthAfrica-swimming-bio-stub