Here is one guy that did get pimped from SA back in my day. He was the first guy i ever saw break 20 seconds in the 50 free, not sure if he was the first or not. Went to long beach to watch NCAA"s and the crowd went crazy when they saw a 19+ show up on the board…
In 1976, he weighed 185 pounds and stood 6’5" and had a good chance of taking the gold medal in the 100 metres freestyle at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada, however at the time South Africa was still banned from the Olympics hence making Skinner ineligible to compete.
However, after the completion of the Olympics, at the 1976 United States Summer National Swimming Championships in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and after just qualifying for the final, Skinner broke Jim Montgomery’s 20-day old world record in the 100 metre freestyle by 0.55 seconds beating home the Olympic champion and Joe Bottom who won silver in Montreal. His record stood until 3 April 1981 when Rowdy Gaines swam the distance in 49.36 seconds in Texas.
Oh ya, it was Jonty Skinner…