Annette Cowley-Nel

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Annette Cowley-Nel
Personal information
National teamSouth Africa South Africa
England England
Born (1967-01-06) 6 January 1967 (age 57)
Sport
SportSwimming
College teamWestern Province

Annette Cowley-Nel (born 1967) is a retired international freestyle swimmer. She was born in South Africa to an English mother[1] and lived in Boston, Bellville.[2]

Her time in her Commonwealth trial was faster than the eventual gold medal time, and she would have been favourite to win the race.[1]

In the 1986 she moved to the UK and hoped to represent England in the 100m Freestyle at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh; however, she was disqualified, with Zola Budd,[3] on residency grounds. At the time, South Africa was subject to an international boycott in protest of the Apartheid government. The ban was upheld by the High Court, and Cowley-Nel was unable to compete.[4] She was subsequently unable to compete for South Africa after the country's readmittance to international sport, as she had previously represented England.

She won the 1986 ASA National Championship 100 metres freestyle title and the 200 metres freestyle.[5]

Personal life[edit]

Cowley-Nel is married to Jeremy Nel, with whom she owns Luxury Brands, a marketing and communications agency.[6]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Fraser, Graham. "Boycotts and Broken Dreams: The 1986 Commonwealth Games". BBC.
  2. ^ "Annette Cowley". Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  3. ^ "The history of competitive water sports in southern Africa". Archived from the original on 19 January 2012.
  4. ^ Alexander, Douglas. "'I put on a brave face but I did cry'". Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014.
  5. ^ ""Mother is the inspiration." Times, 2 June 1986, p. 38". Times Digital Archive.
  6. ^ "Luxury Brands info".