Renate du Plessis
Personal information
Full nameRenate Magdeleen du Plessis
National team South Africa
Born (1981-07-14) 14 July 1981
Cape Town, South Africa
Height1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight76 kg (168 lb)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesButterfly
ClubBellville Aquarama (R.S.A.)
College teamUniversity of Hawaii (US)
University of Florida (US)
CoachSam Freas (US)
Gregg Troy (US)
Heinz Dittrich (R.S.A)

Renate Magdeleen du Plessis (born 14 July 1981) is a South African former competitive swimmer who specialised in butterfly events.[1] She broke numerous South African records in the 100-metre butterfly at the 1997 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, and later represented South Africa as an 18-year-old at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. She received ten All-American honours as a member of the Florida Gators swimming and diving team.

Career

Early years

Du Plessis was born in Cape Town, South Africa, the daughter of Andre and Jeanette du Plessis. She has one younger sister named Ciska and one younger named Marnitz, all of whom were full-time members of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. She started swimming at the age of ten after watching the 1992 Summer Olympics, where the South African squad made its official comeback in 42 years because of apartheid: "I remember my parents watching and explaining to me what the rings and what the Olympics were". Four years later, she missed a chance to be selected for the Olympic team by almost a small fraction of time. Du Plessis's first competitive swimming experiences were honed with Bellville Aquarama (now Barracudas Aquarama) coach Heinz Dittrich.[2]

At the age of eighteen, Du Plessis left her family in South Africa to come to the United States and eventually swim for the University of Hawaii: ""I had been travelling for swimming since I was 13, so at first it just felt like a really long road trip or camp".[3]

College career

Du Plessis first attended the University of Hawaii in Honolulu, Hawaii, and competed for the Hawaii Rainbow Wahine swimming and diving team, under head coach Sam Freas, during the 2000–2001 season. She earned four Western Athletic Conference honours and posted a career best in the 100-yard butterfly (54.30).[4]

In the fall of 2001, Du Plessis transferred to the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where she trained for coach Gregg Troy as a member of the Florida Gators swimming and diving team.[5] While swimming for the Gators, she achieved career bests in the 100-yard butterfly (53.02), 200-yard butterfly (1:59.79), and 100-yard backstroke (53.87), and received a total of ten All-American and five Southeastern Conference honours in her entire college career.[6] She graduated from the University in 2004 with a bachelor of science degree major in exercise physiology.

International career

Du Plessis made her official debut at the 1997 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, where she established a South African record of 1:02.10, but finished fourth in the 100-metre butterfly.[7]

At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, Du Plessis competed for South Africa in the women's 100-metre butterfly, along with her teammate Mandy Loots. Missing out of the Olympic Trials, she finished behind Loots from the Mare Nostrum Swim Meet in Rome, Italy with a FINA A-standard time of 1:00.66.[8][9] She challenged seven other swimmers in heat four, including Hungary's 16-year-old Orsolya Ferenczy and Finland's three-time Olympian Marja Pärssinen. Coming from fourth at the initial turn, she faded down the stretch with fatigue and slow pace to pick up a fifth seed in 1:01.32, more than half a second (0.50) below her entry standard. Du Plessis failed to advance into the semi-finals, as she placed twenty-eighth overall on the first day of prelims.[10][11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Renate du Plessis". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  2. ↑ "Tygerberger swem plek los in Olimpiese span Tygerberger in Olimpiese span". Insite Gainesville. 17 July 2012. Archived from the original on 3 June 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  3. ↑ "Olympians in Our Midst". Insite Gainesville. 17 July 2012. Archived from the original on 5 August 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  4. ↑ "SMU streaks to WAC swimming, diving title". The Honolulu Advertiser. 25 February 2001. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  5. ↑ "2006 Florida Gators Swimming & Diving Media Guide – Gator Olympians" (PDF). Florida Gators. University of Florida. pp. 6–8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 May 2012. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
  6. ↑ "2008 Florida Gators Swimming & Diving Media Guide – All-Time Top-10 Gator Performers (SCY)" (PDF). Florida Gators. University of Florida. pp. 111–112. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 May 2012. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  7. ↑ "SA swimmers break Africa records". Mail & Guardian. 13 August 1997. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  8. ↑ "Swimming – Women's 100m Butterfly Startlist (Heat 4)" (PDF). Sydney 2000. Omega Timing. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  9. ↑ "Potec Edges Franzi in Rome". Swimming World. 30 May 2000. Archived from the original on 24 June 2013. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  10. ↑ "Sydney 2000: Swimming – Women's 100m Butterfly Heat 4" (PDF). Sydney 2000. LA84 Foundation. p. 225. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 August 2011. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
  11. ↑ Newberry, Paul (16 September 2000). "Thompson anchors U.S. relay win; Thorpe wins 400 free". Canoe.ca. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
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