Pretoria teenage swimming sensation Lara van Niekerk glides onto the international stage

Lara van Niekerk was relatively unknown in international sport until recently. But after her success at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, where she broke records and won gold medals in the 50m and 100m breaststroke - beating fellow South African and Olympian Tatjana Schoeman - she is sure to leave others in her wake. The 19-year-old from Pretoria attributes her success to her determination to keep on improving and her ability to overlook obstacles like the colder water she had to train in when loadshedding lowered the temperature of the swimming-pool. Van Niekerk told Linda van Tilburg why she decided not to move overseas, the difficulties of finding sponsors, and how she has her eye on bigger competitions, including the Olympic Games in 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices