Kaydn Naidoo's journey from water baby to Olympic hopeful

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.

- ROWAN CALLAGHAN

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.

Early start

“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.”