Chasing the Dream

The story of Ryk Neethling is much more than the story of a triumphant sportsman. It is the story of a fiercely determined swimmer from Bloemfontein who overcame great odds – a near drowning, social awkwardness and family tragedy – to become an Olympic champion.

In this autobiography, Ryk tells of his travels to the US to pursue his Olympic dream and as a student at the University of Arizona (where he was named the University of Arizona Athlete of the Century); the experience of winning gold in Athens in 2004; the murky world of steroids in sport; his ongoing battle with the sport’s administrators; his struggles with his Afrikaner identity; and his rejection of a multimillion-dollar offer to swim for another country.

The book will take the story up to the end of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, in which Ryk was the only South African to compete in four successive Olympic Games.

CLINTON VAN DER BERG has held various positions in South African newspapers and is currently sports editor of the Sunday Times. He has travelled extensively, reporting on events as varied as the Olympic Games, the X-Games and world championship boxing. He has won a number of awards for sports-writing, among them the SAB Sports Writer of the Year award in 2000. This is his first book.