By Iva Wharton
Fifteen-year-old swimmer Britney Van Lange is back from the London 2012 Olympics and according to her the experience gained was quite valuable.
“I learnt a lot. I know what it feels like to be an Olympian, how Olympians compete. It was exhilarating actually,” the Bishops’ High School student said.
Van Lange is now preparing for the Goodwill Games scheduled for August 17 to 19 at the National Aquatic Centre.
In her exclusive interview with Stabroek Sport at the Aquatic Centre at Pattensen, East Coast Demerara, she said what made the experience more memorable was getting the opportunity to represent Guyana at the highest level in swimming at fifteen years old.
“It was quite a privilege and quite an opportunity to be able to go to such a competition at such a young age. I am thankful for it, I have learnt a lot from it and I hope that when I re-attend the Olympics I will do much better.”
The teen said that meeting and competing against some of the world’s best swimmers was not an easy task.
“At first it was intimidating and then you get accustomed to it …”
Asked which of the swimmers she was interested in meeting at the Games Van Lange said, “Well Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte obviously, then I really wanted to meet Rebecca Adlington all of the United States.”
Van Lange said, however, she was unable to meet any of the elite swimmers because of how the Olympic Village is situated.
“You did not really get to meet the good swimmers because I guess they wanted them in the village a lot because the fans obviously wanted pictures, but you will see them in the pool when they warm-up and that was it.”
According to Van Lange, preparing for the next Olympics would be hard but she is prepared for it. “It would take a lot of pain, a lot of sacrificing and a lot of hard work.”
Van Lange said she returned to Guyana last Saturday.
The Bishops’ High School student failed to qualify after finishing fourth in heat two as she registered 1:01.62.
