South African swimmers make a splash with their silver medal spree

South African swimmers Kaylene Corbett and Erin Gallagher have a lot in common — both have bright smiles, a passion for swimming and a newfound affection for pandas.

The pair, competing at the Chengdu FISU University Games, also wore identical headbands featuring a panda sleeping on its stomach on the podium at the Dong'an Lake Sports Park Aquatics Center.

"My teammate winning is me winning, and I am very happy that we get to share this moment and be here together," said Corbett, the 24-year-old silver medalist of the women's 100m breaststroke at the games in Sichuan province.

She also won another silver medal in the women's 200m.

Gallagher has so far bagged three silver medals — one in the women's 50m butterfly, one in the 100m butterfly, and the last in the 100m freestyle.

"We shared each other's victories 100 percent. She always races with such determination and with her heart. She is so inspiring and the most giving person I know," said the 25-year-old Gallagher.

On Thursday evening, they won back-to-back silver medals in less than 20 minutes.

"She is my roommate and one of my best friends, so seeing her on the screen, I was like 'Come on! Let's go!'" said Gallagher, who is living with Corbett at the games' athletes' village.

"I was trying to see her after her race, and luckily, she came to my room and as soon as I saw her, we jumped to hug each other," she said.

"It's good to learn from her and be inspired by somebody so close to me," she added. "It's just so amazing to be able to share each other's victories and each other's disappointments together. It just brings us closer."

Gallagher also took a cue from another teammate, who advised her to "just enjoy it".

"It's so simple but so true. When I was behind the block, I told myself to just enjoy the experience, and it paid off," she said.

At the Chengdu games, Gallagher raced against her longtime rival-China's Zhang Yufei, who clinched two gold medals at the World Aquatics Champions in Fukuoka, Japan, last month.

For years, the two have been competing in neighboring lanes during finals.

"It's so good to race against the world champion. It's something to learn from, and I am loving every minute of it," she said. "It (racing against Zhang) was almost like a driving force because it encourages you to be going (faster)."

At the world championships in Japan, South Africa's Olympic champion Tatjana Schoenmaker won her first world title, another source of inspiration for Gallagher.

"She is also incredible and works so hard. It's a crazy journey (for her) to be a world record holder, an Olympic gold medalist and to watch her grow," Gallagher said.

For herself, Gallagher said that winning gold at the Chengdu games would be challenging, but the goal is to surpass her own limits.

"We are up against world champions here… I am just chasing my own personal best at the moment, so we'll see what happens," she said.

Corbett, on the other hand, said that she has already outdone herself because the 100m breaststroke category where she landed a silver is not her strongest event.

"I usually do the 200m, and I am also very surprised that I even got to two (second place). I am just happy to be here," Corbett said.

The two will team up with other South African swimmers for relay events in the next few days.

Outside the pool, the two harbor different dreams for the future.

Corbett studies education at the University of Pretoria in South Africa and aspires to become either a special needs teacher or an audiologist.

Gallagher, a geography and environmental science major at the same university, hopes to make a difference in reducing the impact of urban development on the environment as an urban planner or disaster management specialist.

She added that Chengdu is so far her favorite city in China.

"At the athletes' village, there is so much to do. I haven't done a lot of activities yet, but I really want to learn writing my name in Chinese and do the bamboo weaving, and definitely, definitely, I need to go see a giant panda before I go back to South Africa," she said.