Johannesburg - Black-eyed and bruised was the tell-tale signs of the battle: distance ace Chad Ho had to fight to secure his place for his second Olympic Games.
Ho confirmed his place in the South African team for the Rio Games at the Fina Olympic Marathon Swim Qualifier in Setubal, Portugal last month.
”It was one of the most physical races, and with every one trying to qualify for the Olympics and with only a certain amount of spots available it makes it that much harder,” Ho told The Star.
”I got hit in the eye a few times, and I came out with a black eye, but you get over it and you carry on swimming.”The 26-year-old qualified by the skin of his teeth finishing 11th in a time of 1:52:31.60 which would not have been good enough to go the Games.
Ho needed to finish in the top nine to earn his spot but was given a lifeline thanks to the rule that each nation has a quota of one athlete per event.
This eliminated swimmers from Australia and Germany that had two swimmers each in the top nine giving Ho a foot in the door.Ho may have scraped through but he was adamant that he would not be going to Rio de Janeiro as an Olympic tourist but as a contender.
”The ultimate goal is to go there and win a medal. I am not going there just to make up numbers and say I’ve been to the Olympics,” Ho said.
”I definitely want to win that medal and that has been my dream for forever so anything is possible with open water and you never know who will win even if you are considered the favourite.
”We will have to see what happens but I do feel I have the experience and the knowledge to be competitive with everyone. I believe in myself that I can do something special.”
Ho has been a pioneer for distance swimming in South Africa, winning the country’s first Open Water medal in Rome in 2009, finishing third over the 5km distance event at the Fina World Championships.
He showed his class, and demonstrated his bronze from six years earlier was not a mere fluke by powering to gold in the 5km Open Water event at the World Championships in Kazan, Russia last year.
Eight years after making his Olympic debut in Beijing 2008 where he finished in a creditable ninth place, Ho was a relieved man fearing he would miss the boat like he did in 2012.
”After the disappointment of not qualifying for London it is a relief to know all the hard work has paid off, all the dedication,” Ho said.
”It is eight years since my last Olympics so it is a huge relief to go to a second one, and let’s hope I can do something special.”I used that disappointment from London to come back, train harder, and prove to everyone that I can compete at the top.”
With his place in the South African team secured, Ho has been hard at work to realise his dream of claiming a podium position at the Olympic Games.
The Durbanite admitted the Olympics would be anything but a leisurely swim with 25 of the best distance swimmers in the world vying for medals.”I went through the same process for Beijing, “I’ve been through this before but it will be a completely different swim compared to Beijing,” Ho said.
”The sport of Open Water swimming has changed and it is going to be a different experience, I’ve been doing it for a long time and I am looking forward to it.
”The whole intensity of the swimming has increased, the pace, and the physicality. So it is going to be a lot faster than the usual Open Water swimmingand we’ll have to see what happens.”
The Star