Jan Venter

Who is Jan Venter?

Jan Albert Venter is a South African swimmer, who specialized in freestyle events. Venter won a bronze medal, as a member of the South African team, in the 800 m freestyle relay at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India. He also helped his team to claim the title in the same relay distance at the 2011 All-Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique, posting a meet record time of 7:33.63.

Venter qualified as a member of the South African team for the men's 4×200 m freestyle relay at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, by placing third in the same distance from the national championships. Teaming with Sebastien Rousseau, Darian Townsend, and Jean Basson, Venter swam the third leg with a split of 1:49.56, but the South Africans rounded out the final field to last place in 7:13.02. Previously, they set an African standard of 7:10.91 from the preliminary heats.

At the 2009 FINA World Championships in Rome, Italy, Venter helped out his South African team to dip under a 7:10 barrier, and broke a new record of 7:08.01 in the 4×200 m freestyle relay.