Rome, July 30 (DPA) Although South African Cameron Van den Burgh had just won the world championship in the 50m breaststroke and broken his own world record in the process, he was a worried man as he came out of the pool.

He told DPA that he was worried that he would not be able to hold it together during the medal ceremony. 'In a few minutes I will hear my national anthem being played.

'Hopefully I will not cry like a little girl, but keep it all together.'

A short while later however, Van den Burgh was presented with his gold medal and although he obviously had a lump in his throat during the ceremony, he managed to hold his composure.

Instead of tears rolling down his cheeks, he had the biggest grin in Rome on his face as the gold medal was hung around his neck.

After the formalities were completed, he said he was eager to celebrate his victory. 'Just to be world champion is a big moment in my life and dreams do come true. I will have a good bottle of wine and just relax with some friends and enjoy the moment.'

The Pretoria-born 21-year-old, who unlike most of the other top African swimmer still lives and trains in his home country, also won a bronze medal in the 100m breaststroke on Monday.

He said he did not think before the race that he would necessarily win. 'I just came out being confident from the semi-finals on Tuesday and I knew I had a good shot.

'I just tried to keep calm and did not think too much about the medal or the podium and that was all.'

He said although he was - so far - South Africa's only medal winner, he thought the team had done well. 'Our team is still young and some of the kids have been doing pretty well.

'Some of our older swimmers might not have had one or two good swims, but the young kids kids like me and others are coming through.

'We still have Gerhard Zandberg in the 50m back and I am confident that he will get gold there, so by the end of the medal tally I think we will be sticking in there.