TIAAN DU PLESSIS – NEWSPAPER ARTICLE

Tiaan du Plessis is at present ranked 2^nd in the Commonwealth in the 100m Backstroke event for physically challenged swimmers in the S8 class. Tiaan has been invited by the British Swimming Federation to compete in the BT IPCa World Cup which take place in Manchester on the 30^th & 31^st May. Swimmers will compete in 4 teams – UK: USA: Europe & Rest of the World. Tiaan’s trip is fully paid for by the organizers of the tournament & British Telecom who are bringing the best swimmers from around the world to compete. He will be the only swimmer from South Africa participating. Tiaan has already been blessed with competing for Team South Africa in the 2004 Paralympics which were held in Athens. He experienced great disappointment when he was excluded from the Beijing Games due to a restriction of athlete places, this despite him having met all the criteria for the Beijing Games. Tiaan is now 25 years old, works full time and still fits in his very demanding training schedule. His future goals include competing at the next Paralympics as well as this years Commonwealth Games and World Cup. He was the winner of the Midmar Mile, Physically Disabled event this February. Tiaan swims under Head Coach Margaret Martin of Beavers Swim Club.

He is a multiple record holder & Gold medalist at both the SA Disabled Nationals as well as the SA Able-bodied Nationals.