Neil Robert Versfeld (born March 29, 1985) is a South African swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. He finished ninth with a superb South African record in the men's 200 m breaststroke 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 ...

, and has claimed multiple South African championship titles in the 50, 100, and 200 m breaststroke. Versfield swam collegiately for the

Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The offic ...

at the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

(UGA). As a UGA senior in 2009, he won an individual national championship in the 200-yard breaststroke at the NCAA Championships by swimming the fastest time in the history of the event (1:51.40). At UGA, Versfeld was a seven-time All-American and graduated as the team record-holder in the 100-yard breaststroke, 200-yard breaststroke, 200-yard medley relay and 400-yard medley relay. Versfeld competed for the South African swimming team in the men's 200 m breaststroke at the

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. He finished second behind William Diering with a 2:12.33 at the South African Championships four months earlier in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

to assure his selection to the Olympic team under FINA A-standard (2:13.70). Having entered the semifinals with the ninth-seeded time (2:10.50), Versfeld rebounded from his immediate defeat in the prelims to subdue a new African record in 2:10.06, but narrowly missed the top eight final by just 0.09 of a second. His ninth-place time also slashed 0.15 seconds off the continental mark, set by Diering in the initial half of the semifinal round. At the

2009 FINA World Championships The 2009 World Aquatics Championships () or the XIII FINA World Championships were held in Rome, Italy from 18 July to 2 August 2009. This was the second time the championships were held in the city after being previously hosted in 1994. The 20 ...

in Rome, Italy, Versfeld dipped under a 2:10 barrier to lower his South African record time to 2:09.61 in the semifinals of the 200 m breaststroke.

References

External links

Player Bio – Georgia Bulldogs
1985 births Living people Olympic swimmers for South Africa Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games swimmers for South Africa Swimmers at the 2006 Commonwealth Games South African male breaststroke swimmers Swimmers from Durban Georgia Bulldogs men's swimmers South African expatriate swimmers in the United States African Games gold medalists for South Africa African Games silver medalists for South Africa African Games bronze medalists for South Africa Swimmers at the 2003 All-Africa Games 21st-century South African sportsmen African Games bronze medalists in swimming African Games silver medalists in swimming African Games gold medalists in swimming {{SouthAfrica-swimming-bio-stub

See also

References

External links