Roxanne is now swimming and studying on a bursary (that's more than just a couple of thousand US$) at the University of Miami. Her bursary is for swimming, and it is very hot and humid there - which makes it easier to do 3 swim workouts a day.
Roxanne says the entire swim team - and for some reason there is only a girl's swim team - is sponsored by Nike. With everything. Their kit is better than the stuff the SA Olympic team got. Let me reiterate. The stuff the University squads are kitted with beats the crap out of the standard issue string vests etc. that Team SA are issued with.
It is no wonder US athletes perform so well when they are looked after to the extent that they are. I have just had a look at Oscar Pistorius win his 100m. His Puma clothes look like something out of the 60's. Did Puma buy their gear at Mr.Price and then give the team PUMA logos to stick on? Because that's what it looks like.
I think the medal hungry South Africans that have been baying for medals ought to be looking at the pockets of this country's big business. The likes of SASOL, TELKOM, VODACOM - you know, all the guys who say what tremendous supporters they are, and see what sort of money they put into these athletes. Not just in sports like athletics, also something like hockey.
I have said this before, that the SA agents for Nike, Oakley etc can use their profits - a proportion - to sponsor the sport (as an investment), or they can pocket that as discretionary income. The more sponsors invest in our athletes, the more we can expect higher standards and performances that reward these investments. Right now, South Africa's investment in sport remains minimal compared to those of Oz, Nz and other economies on a similar scale to ours.
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