ameron van der Burgh is in the middle of a session at his local Virgin Active gym in Fulham when he notices something. Across the room, another man is training, wearing a T-shirt with the name of the Barnes Masters Swimming Club and the South African spies a chance.
“I’m moving to Barnes soon,” he says, sauntering over to introduce himself. “I would like to know the details and come and see the club.”
“Yeah, sure,” the man replies. “But you’ll have to come down and try it out.”
Somehow, the former world record holder in the 100m breaststroke and 2012 Olympic champion manages to suppress a chuckle.
“Okay, cool.”
“He gave me the email for the club secretary, so I got in touch,” says Van der Burgh Standard Sport, a few months later. “Then I saw the man again after a few weeks and he said, ‘Oh my god, everyone is making it so hard for me that I took you to court!’ Luckily I passed!”.
In addition to his Olympic crown, Van der Burgh won six world titles and four commonwealth games gold medals, the last of which was in the 50-meter breaststroke on the Gold Coast four years ago, when he was also the last man to reach a certain Adam Peaty.
Van der Burgh is the last man to inflict a major defeat on British superstar Adam Peaty
/ AFP via Getty ImagesThe 2014 Games in Glasgow first blossomed into what would become a four-year rivalry with Peaty. event.
‘Of course I had heard of him, because he swam fast times’, says Van der Burgh. “He reminded me of myself by appearing on the scene within a year or two. The old men are not so friendly to you at first and it was the same with me to Adam. It’s just human nature, we’re all competitive.”
Peaty dominated the next cycle, taking gold in the 100m at the Rio Olympics and was on a four-year unbeaten run in the 50m en route to the 2018 Commonwealths, but it would be Van der Burgh’s turn to to come for a surprise, claiming what would prove the last long course title of his career. It remains the only prize missing from Peaty’s collection because he started his campaign on Saturday in Birmingham.
“Every time I went to the Commonwealths I had pretty much the same participants as in the Olympics, while some events have a huge dropout,” says Van der Burgh. “I always joked about” [team-mate] Chad [Le Clos] because the Hungarians weren’t there, the Americans weren’t – he had an easy ride and I had all the tough guys.
“Someone recently asked me, if you hadn’t had Adam Peaty, how many gold medals could you have won? That’s true, but the fun I had from the fights and the races we had together was epic.”
Today, the pair are friends who “chat every now and then”, with children of the same age and Van der Burgh who enjoys “making it difficult for him about his dance competition”.
Van der Burgh’s “retirement” has brought him closer to the trading floor than the Strictly dance floor, having started a new life in London as a hedge fund analyst.
“I get to sit with some of the smartest guys in the world,” he says. “I feel like I’m always the dumbest guy in the room! But it reminds me of the time when I was 18 or 19 when I broke through as a swimmer, went on tour and learned from all these legends.”
He also serves as an ambassador for Laureus and supports the organization’s Sport for Good City programs in his adopted hometown, aimed at fostering social inclusion through sport in Barking, Haringey and Hounslow.
In addition, a competitive return to the pool is at stake.
“Starting next year, I want to try and do some Masters competition stuff,” he adds. “I looked at the Masters rankings and to be honest some guys aren’t bad – I need some work to do!”