A second place and a first place finish would be good enough for most swimmers - but not for ambitious world champion Cameron van der Burgh, as he looks to successfully defend his FINA/Arena World Cup title.

Van der Burgh finished second to veteran Roland Schoeman in the 50 metre breaststroke race in Durban just over two weeks ago, only to bounce back the following day when he romped to victory in the 100m.

That narrow loss to Schoeman could perhaps have been a bitter pill to swallow for the Pretoria-born swimming sensation - as he holds the world record in that event - but he prefers to use that result as an incentive.

"It's never nice to lose a race," admitted Van der Burgh in an interview on www.in-site.co.za, "but at the same time, maybe it not's a bad thing... for one thing, it has certainly made me even hungrier (to win).

"I guess the reality is that you cannot win every race you compete in and I'd rather be losing in the first weekend of the World Cup series than the last when the title is on the line.

"Funnily my time in that 50m race wasn't all that bad, but Roland swam an exceptional race and he deserved to win. (But) like I said before the event, I can only control how fast I swim, so from that point it was encouraging, although nobody likes to lose!"