Theo Verster, Date of Birth, Place of Birth
TweetTheo Verster
Olympic swimmer
Date of Birth: 14-Jan-1975
Place of Birth: Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Profession: swimmer
Nationality: South Africa
Zodiac Sign: Capricorn 
About Theo Verster
- Theophilus "Theo" Verster (born 14 January 1975) is a South African former swimmer, who specialised in butterfly and in individual medley events.
- He won three medals at the 1999 All-Africa Games, and later represented South Africa at the 2000 Summer Olympics.
- He also held an African record of 55.04 from the 2002 Telkom International Sprint Challenge that defeated Terence Parkin for a top finish and sliced off Brendon Dedekind's standard by 0.37 of a second.
- During his sporting career, Verster trained full-time under his personal coach Alisdair Hatfield. Verster ascended to prominence in the global scene at the 1999 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Sydney, placing seventh each in the 100 m butterfly (54.28) and 200 m individual medley (2:04.24).
- On that same year, at the All-Africa Games in Johannesburg, Verster established meet records to claim two golds each in the 200 m butterfly (2:04.69) and in the 200 m individual medley (2:04.10).
- In the 100 m butterfly, he was upstaged by teammate Kelly on a head-to-head race, ending up only with a silver in 54.75.At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Verster built a monstrous program of four swimming events.
- He posted FINA A-standards of 53.86 (100 m butterfly), 2:01.63 (200 m butterfly), and 2:03.11 (200 m individual medley) from the South African Championships in Johannesburg.
- On the third day of the Games, Verster placed twenty-sixth in the 200 m butterfly.
- Swimming in heat three, he picked up a fourth seed by almost a full body length behind winner Vladan Markovic of Yugoslavia in 2:00.90.
- Two days later, in the 200 m individual medley, Verster finished twentieth in 2:03.64, nearly a small fraction of a second outside the semi-final field.
- In his final individual event, 100 m butterfly, Verster posted a time of 53.95 from heat five, but missed again the semi-finals by 0.14 of a second with an eighteenth-place effort.
- Verster also teamed up with Simon Thirsk, Brett Petersen, and Nicholas Folker in the 4 × 100 m medley relay.
- Swimming a butterfly leg in heat two, Verster recorded a split of 53.52, a national record, but the South Africans finished the race in fourth place and thirteenth overall with a final time of 3:42.44.Verster also sought his entry bid for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, but finished fourth in the 100 m butterfly (54.82) at the South African Championships, handing over to his teammate Eugene Botes.
- Shortly after the trials, Verster announced his retirement from swimming.
- He is currently working as a full-time coach for Saint Andrew's School for Girls in Johannesburg.
Read more at Wikipedia