Karin Prinsloo calls it a day
SA’s leading women’s swimmer Karin Prinsloo has called it a day on her career after she failed to qualify for the Rio Olympics.
|||Johannesburg - South Africa’s leading women’s swimmer Karin Prinsloo has called it a day on her career after she failed to qualify for this year’s Rio Olympic Games.
The London Olympian leaves competitive swimming with four South African long-course records – 100, 200, 400m freestyle and 100m backstroke.
Prinsloo made the announcement on social media site, Instagram, after making her last appearance in the pool at the third and final leg of the Mare Nostrum series in Barcelona over the weekend.
“So many mixed feelings that it's hard to comprehend, for 21 years swimming was part of my life but last night I completed the circle by ending it off with the event I qualified in for the 2012 Olympics,” Prinsloo wrote in a post on the social media platform.
“I never thought the sport I loved so dearly would also be the very thing that brought me so much tears but today I walk away with a grateful heart.”
After failing to post a qualifying mark at the South African Swimming Championships in April, Prinsloo competed at the Canet-en-Roussillon and Barcelona over the last week.
South African swimmers were required to post the qualifying times at the South African Swimming Championships if they were to be considered for Olympic selection.
The national team will go to the Olympics without a single female swimmer in the pool although Michelle Weber booked her place in the 10km Open Water Marathon over the weekend.
Prinsloo advanced to the semi-final in the 200m backstroke at the London Olympic but did not make it to the final.
She reached her peak in 2014 setting new national records in the four events but has since battled to get back to similar form mostly due to injury.
Independent Media