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Chad Ho

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Chad Ho
Personal information
Full nameChad Ho
National team South Africa
Born (1990-06-21) 21 June 1990 (age 34)
Johannesburg, South Africa
Height1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight76 kg (168 lb)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesOpen water
ClubAction Swim Academy
CoachAlisdair Hatfield
Medal record
Men's swimming
Representing South Africa
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2015 Kazan 5 km marathon
Bronze medal – third place 2009 Rome 5 km marathon

Chad Ho (born 21 June 1990) is a South African open water swimmer, who specialises in 10km and 5km marathon swimming.[1] Educated at Westville Boys' High School, he is considered one of the fastest professional open water swimmers in the world, having won the overall series title at the 2010 FINA World Cup and attended the Olympic Game's twice - 2008 and 2016. He is also currently a seven-time titleholder of the Midmar Mile.[2]

Swimming career

2008 Summer Olympics

Ho qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, after placing fourth in the 10 km Marathon Swimming Olympic test event at Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park.[3] He swam in the first-ever men's 10 km open water marathon, against a field of 24 other competitors, including former pool swimmers Petar Stoychev of Bulgaria and Thomas Lurz of Germany. Ho finished the race in ninth place, with a time of 1:52:13.1, approximately twenty-one seconds behind winner Maarten van der Weijden of the Netherlands.[4]

Post-Olympics

At the 2009 FINA World Championships in Rome, Italy, Ho became the first South African to win a medal in open water swimming, taking the bronze in the 5 km marathon, for a fastest possible time of 56:41.9.[5] He also finished twenty-third in the 10 km marathon, with a time of 1:53:13.1, exactly one second behind his record time from the Olympics. The following year, he reinforced his lead in the FINA 10 km Marathon Swimming World Cup circuit, by reaching the top position in all eight meets of the series.[6] Although he only won the sixth meet in Hong Kong, Ho's victory margin of 27 seconds was the largest in the series, which declared him the overall titleholder.[7] Because of his outstanding achievement in the World Cup, and his commitment to the sport, Ho was nominated as 2010 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year.[8]

In 2011, Ho finished second in the 5 km marathon and shared his triumph with Troyden Prinsloo for the gold medal in 10 km at the Telkom SA National Aquatic Championships in Jeffreys Bay.[9] Following his further success from the national championships, Ho qualified for the men's 10 km marathon at the FINA World Championships in Shanghai, China. Unfortunately, he finished the race farther from the medal podium in twentieth place, with a time of 1:54:58.6, three seconds behind Ukraine's Igor Snitko.

In 2012, Ho offered another shot for a bid to the Summer Olympics in London, by participating at the FINA Olympic Marathon Swim Qualifier, held in Setubal, Portugal.[10] He competed against a field of 61 open water swimmers including Stoychev, David Davies of Great Britain, and Oussama Mellouli of Tunisia, who previously won an Olympic gold medal from the pool. Ho, however, failed to qualify for his supposedly second Olympics, after finishing in twelfth place, with a time of 1:46:29.4.[11][12]

In 2015, Ho won gold in the 2015 World Aquatics Championships men's 5km open water swim in a time of 55:17.6. Open water swimming was not sponsored in South Africa and Ho used crowdfunding to raise the funds needed to compete.[13]

References

  1. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Chad Ho". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  2. ^ "Chad Ho wins Midmar Mile". Sport 24 (South Africa). 12 February 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  3. ^ "Open Water Test Event: Olympic 10K Marathon Swim Fields Set". Swimming World. 1 June 2008. Archived from the original on 29 March 2014. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  4. ^ "Men's Marathon 10km". Beijing 2008. NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 17 August 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  5. ^ "Ho wins bronze for SA". Sport 24 (South Africa). 21 July 2009. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  6. ^ "Ana Marcela Cunha, Fran Crippen Win Cancun Stops of FINA 10K Marathon World Cup". Swimming World. 11 October 2010. Archived from the original on 3 February 2013. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  7. ^ Staff (11 November 2010). "SA's other swimming Chad wins World Cup series". South Africa: Times Live. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  8. ^ "Nominees for 2010 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year". World Open Water Swimming Association. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  9. ^ "South African Long Course Championships: Chad Ho, Troy Prinsloo, Natalie Du Toit Win 10K titles". Swimming World. 17 April 2011. Archived from the original on 3 February 2013. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  10. ^ "Strong field competes in Setubal (POR) for last Olympic marathon swimming berths". FINA. 8 June 2012. Archived from the original on 15 August 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  11. ^ "London 2012 – Marathon Swimming – FINA Olympic 10km Marathon Swimming Qualifier – Setubal (POR) – Results". FINA. 11 June 2012. Archived from the original on 9 November 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  12. ^ Etheridge, Mark (22 June 2012). "Troy, Jess do the job". SASCOC. Archived from the original on 22 April 2013. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  13. ^ de Villiers, Ockert (5 August 2015). "Ho: I managed to say thanks with gold". Sport24. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
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