In the swim of things

First world record

He broke his first world record on November 8 2008 when he clocked 26.08 in the 50m breaststroke (short course) at a World Cup meet in Moscow. The next day he went 56.88 to break the 100m record

Serial record breaker

He broke six world records in less than four months in 2009, twice lowering the 50m (long course) mark in late July, then the 50m (short course) in August, the 100m (short course) in November and a few days later the 50m (short course) again

London warm-up

In the build-up to the 2012 London Olympics, Van der Burgh clocked an impressive 59.73 in a warm-up race. Not wanting to give too much away to his rivals, coaches advised him to go slower, though fate stepped in and he fell ill for a few days

Olympics

Van der Burgh clocked his 58.48sec 100m breaststroke world record at the 2012 London Olympics. The closest he got to that was 58.49 at the 2015 world championships

Adam Peaty

He was unlucky to have Englishman Adam Peaty coming along when he did in 2014. Peaty was the Phelps of breaststroke, but Van der Burgh still beat him one last time at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games