Alex Dale Oen (NOR) Vs Cameron Van Der Burgh (RSA).

Thankfully, the killer whale had already had its supper. Had it been otherwise, the world might be missing two of the fastest breaststroke swimmers ever seen. When Alex Dale Oen, the first Norwegian man to win a European swimming title, went to visit Cameron Van Der Burgh in South Africa, the friends went out to sea to have some fun on a rubber tube being pulled by a boat. 

Coach Dirk Lange once said that Van Der Burgh's great strength was that he had no fear. One moment challenged that viewpoint beyond most. Van Der Burgh first recalled  the moment in a pre-Beijing interview with the South African media: "I was on a rubber tube, being towed by a boat, and an orca [killer whale] came flying out of the water about 10m away. It was close to us, and it was huge. I thought, 'this is it'." The orca swam away, the world got to see more of the breaststroke aces and we got to interview them for the latest In the Arena: How Rivals Square Up.

Speaking from Bergen, where the two men were enjoying a short spell of training together, Dale Oen summed up motivation when he said: "If I wake up and I’m feeling really tired, I think about the world championships or the Olympic Games and if I don’t do the job properly at that moment, that morning, that afternoon, I know I’ll lose my odds of success and I won’t achieve what I want. So, I am always thinking about what to do in future and what can make me achieve my goals." Van Der Burgh says: "I’ve been given an amazing swimming talent and I wouldn’t want to waste it but want to refine it and get 100 per cent efficiency out of it. There is so much to work on. When it’s a 5am rise, I just think about the feeling I get from breaking world records and the joy from that. Its overwhelming, and I can replay that in my mind."

Dale Oen says that no matter what the set and however steep the pain, once he stops training, he feels nothing, the moment is behind him, money stored in the bank. Van Der Burgh recalls one of the things that moulded the man: a 15km session in “blisteringly cold” conditions on camp near the Kruger Park as a 14-year-old. 

Of his coach Aarvi Pavle, the Norwegian says: “When I wake up at 6am I know that he is at the pool deck waiting for me to give me the opportunity to be one of the world’s  best breaststroke swimmers. And I lose his respect if I don’t do it.” Van Der Burgh praises coach Dirk Lange as a man who “could explain why we were doing what we were doing. He gave me a good understanding and he would prepare me mentally. He made me believe in myself. I could walk out on a pool deck and I would exude so much confidence that people said ‘we could tell you were going to win’.” Van Der Burgh’s newest coach is Norimasa Hirai, mentor to Kosuke Kitajima and Japan head coach “He is quite a shy person and very meticulous. It’s written up on the board ‘start: 6am ... everything is timed accurately ... and finish at 7.57am’. But we were always late finishing when I was there. He said ‘you talk so much, it’s 8.04am!’.”

Asked about the moments they cherish the most, Dale Oen recalls making history in Eindhoven last year, not only because he became a pathfinder for Norway but because he got “everything inside” him in terms of capacity and potential out of himself on the day; Van Der Burgh recalls the bronze medal at the world championships in Melbourne 2007: “To take that leap from local South African swimmer to international swimmer, well, it’s the hardest leap to make. It was so un-expected. I was just cherishing the medal. I remember that I couldn’t sleep.”

On suits, they are in the camp of those who wish to return to textile-only apparel that does not enhance performance, both are looking forward to Rome 2009, beyond the pool both have a passion for photography, and in and out of the pool Dale Oen and Van Der Burgh are great ambassadors for their sport, not to mention great fun to interview.

Read how they square up as friends and rivals in the race.