Making a splash: Doccie explores history of Olympic swimming in SA
The four-part documentary shows what it takes to compete at the highest levels of swimming, a sport in which South Africa has achieved its greatest Olympic success since readmission.
Swimming swimmer Swim pool pixabay
Pippa speaks to director Richard Finn Gregory about a new documentary series which drops on M-Net tonight (Thursday) called Outside Lane.
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If you’re still on a sporting high after binge-watching the Olympics, then a new documentary series dropping on M-Net tonight (Thursday) will keep you in the clutches of the Olympic spirit a little longer.
Outside Lane follows the path of four young South African swimmers who were part of Team SA in Paris.
The series tracks the road to Paris, but also looks at the story of South African swimming in the post-apartheid era, and asks the question: 'What does it take to be an Olympic champion?'
The series is produced by Idea Candy, which also brought us Devilsdorp, School Ties and Steinheist.
Director Richard Finn Gregory explains the series' title.
"For any high level swimmer, you don't want to be on any edge lanes of the pool...you don't have good peripheral vision of the other swimmers, you're at a disadvantage."
Richard Finn Gregory, Director - 'Outside Lane'
"It was a metaphor for what we we need to do in South Africa. The swimmers are effectively swimming from the outside lane, we're not funded like people are in the States or Australia...we've got a lot to overcome as South African swimmers."
Richard Finn Gregory, Director - 'Outside Lane'
While the series focuses on the current athletes and their ambitions, it also traces the path of South Africa's dogged climb back into contention.
The so-called isolation years (1964 to 1988), when South Africa was banned from the games, had a devastating impact on competitive swimming, says Gregory.
The series interviews Olympic medal winning swimmer Penny Heyns.
"What she told us is that those years of being isolated from the rest of the world's sports didn't do us any favours really and we needed to catch up and quickly."
Richard Finn Gregory, Director - 'Outside Lane'
Outside Lane premieres on DStv Premium on M-Net (Channel 101) on Thursday 15 August at 8pm, and will also be available on DStv Catch Up and DStv Stream.
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