Kaydn Naaidoo is eyeing a spot in the 50m and 100m butterfly at the LA 2028 Olympic Games.
Image: Supplied
Kaydn Naidoo has grown from water baby to fly guy, and is now making waves in the swimming world with his sights set on the 50m and 100m butterfly at the LA Olympics in 2028.
The 22-year-old from Malvern, in Queensburgh, showed that this is not a pipe dream, with his performances at the recent SA National Swimming Championships in Gqeberha.
Kaydn finished seventh in the 50m final in a time of 24.79 seconds. However, he finished just outside the medal places in fourth in the 100m, with a time of 54.03.
The results are all the more impressive considering the computer science graduate has had to juggle work, a taxing training schedule and competition.
“The very first time I ever swam was when I was about nine months old. My dad got me into the pool before I could even walk,” Kaydn told Independent Media Sport exclusively.
“But I first started competitive racing when I was about eight years old, which was when I first joined Beavers Swimming Club here in Malvern.
“The very first time I joined the club I realised that swimming was a lot different to other sports, it’s a lot harder to maintain your fitness, your stroke. It’s a lot harder to improve as well. So I liked that challenge.”
Apart from whetting his appetite for the sport, dad Yogan has also been an inspiration.
“There is nobody in my family that has done swimming to any (competitive) level but my dad has been extremely athletic growing up, and he’s still very athletic to this day. He runs every single morning, about 10km, and he’s run between 12 and 13 Comrades,” Kaydn said, proudly.
And Kaydn didn’t need to look every far for inspiration from inside the sport. Fellow Durbanite and Olympic butterfly gold medallist Chad le Clos also helped ignite his passion for the sport with his achievements.
“When I first started to pursue swimming I’d seen Chad win gold (in the 200m butterfly at the London Olympics) in 2012, that just kicked it off for me,” Kaydn said.
He lists qualifying for the World University Games in China in 2023 as among his greatest feats in the sport so far.
“I was a little off my times there because I got extremely sick but still managed to qualify for that competition. That was my first ever swimming competition on the world stage,” Kaydn said.
“Beginning of last year was also a very big achievement. It was going to the All Africa Games in Ghana where I won a gold medal in the 4X100 men’s freestyle relay.”
The swimmer said that he had been hoping for a better improvement from last year’s nationals, “but I’ll take any improvement”.
The one thing that may be holding Kaydn back is the fact that he has to balance work and training, while his main rivals like Matt Sates and Jarden Eaton don’t.
“It’s a lot of time management,” Kaydn said.
Kaydn Naaidoo continues to excel in the pool despite juggling work, training and competition.
Image: Supplied
He did manage to extend his training time leading into the nationals, from an hour a day to an hour-and-a-half.
“It’s still not as much as what the other guys are doing with their morning swimming, the gym and swimming again in the afternoon,” Kaydn admitted.
“I do think it would have made a big difference, being able to get that extra training in. But I’m still happy with how I performed with that minimal amount of training that I’ve had.”
With the world champs in Singapore later this year now out of reach, what are Kaydn’s goals?
“Hopefully I can qualify for the next Olympics, but that’s the bigger end goal, the bigger picture of everything.
“But the smaller goal is to hopefully qualify for Commonwealth Games next year and to also qualify for the next world short course championships.
“And in 2027, I think it is, to hopefully qualify for the World University Games again, because I do plan on studying further, doing my Honours next year and my Masters degree in computer science in 2027.”
Wherever that journey takes him, Kaydn is sure to keep making a splash.