From South Africa to Southern Illinois, Ruard van Renen Has Historic NCAAs

Ruard van Renen Has Historic NCAAs From South Africa to Southern Illinois

Ruard van Renen He did his analysis earlier than deciding on Southern Illinois as his faculty vacation spot.

The small-town really feel of the Missouri Valley Convention college met the traits of the South African backstroke athlete. Got here to Carbondale with an thought of ​​what to anticipate. It took some extra time to determine what a Saluki was, although.

“Completely not,” van Renen stated on the NCAAs final week about his foreknowledge of the SIU’s faceless mascot.

Regardless of this, he shortly grew to become one of the crucial profitable Salukis in program historical past, due to the spectacular NCAAs held in Minneapolis final week.

Van Renen made a double B ultimate, ending ninth behind 100 and thirteenth behind 200. 13 factors tied Salukis to twenty eighth place. he First Southern Illinois swimmer to reach the NCAAs First purpose scorer since 2005 and since 1995.

Ruard van Renen; Photograph Courtesy of: Peter H. Bick

Freshman hopes that is just the start for his journey within the USA

“It is an enormous leap ahead for this system,” he stated. “I knew I had particular objectives going into this system and I undoubtedly really feel like we exceeded these objectives. It is form of an ego increase, nevertheless it retains your head off and your toes on the bottom. It’ll empower me to coach and get higher.”

Van Renen selected a path that wasn’t assured for a prime South African. Elite athletes from that nation have been pretty evenly divided in choosing American faculties or staying dwelling to coach. Some, like final 12 months’s NCAA champion Matt Sates of Georgia, come to America however don’t remain for lengthy.

Understanding this, Van Renen seemed for a scenario that may work for him. The Durbanville native went to boarding college, so he was used to being away from dwelling. Find SIU, she decided that Carbondale’s small-town vibe was preferable to a giant metropolis, and discovering the precise setting made her match simple.

“I’ve buddies in my hometown who’ve made the transition to the US,” he stated. “The best option to say it’s that it is only a mindset. I used to be at dwelling boarding college, so I used to be away from dwelling for 5 years. Touring from South Africa to the USA, being this removed from my dwelling, was not the primary massive shock for me. They instructed me to remain calm, attempt to make new buddies, and that is what everyone instructed me, and I am going to do you too.”

Consolation became enchancment. He holds SIU information in each backstroke occasions – 44.67 within the 100 and 1:39.73 within the 200. He was “barely disenchanted” as he did not make the A ultimate of the 100, getting into a seventh-best. Their 45.17 qualifiers positioned tenth exterior the A ultimate by .12 seconds. He made up for it by blasting 44.67, his finest time to boss within the comfort ultimate.

The ultimate 200 was additionally comfort, with van Renen transferring up from thirty first to thirteenth.

One of many challenges Van Renen sought within the US was performed within the NCAAs. Preliminaries at South African conferences can typically be a formality for somebody of van Renen’s stature. The expertise of tackling the qualifiers and being prepared from the beginning is one thing she hopes will repay in bigger meetups.

Subsequent fall’s World College Video games are on the goal checklist. He’ll journey to South Africa in April to contest the trials. With Pieter Coetze forward of him, South Africa is real looking about the place it stands within the backstroke hierarchy. However van Renen hopes the expertise and confidence he is gained from the NCAAs will get him prepared for summer season.

“Clearly we now have one of many quickest backstrokes on the earth proper now at Pieter Coetzee, so I am not going again dwelling and it is simply me,” he stated. “…I really feel like he is going again dwelling and hopefully this 12 months I can provide him his cash’s price and hopefully see some massive days.”