Charlene Wittstock, whose wedding to Prince Albert II of Monaco was announced on Thursday for July next year, is a Zimbabwe-born swimmer who has represented her adopted homeland South Africa at the Olympics.

The 32-year-old, who was born in Zimbabwe's second city of Bulawayo on January 25, 1978, learned to swim at the age of three. Influenced by her mother, who was a top level diver, she grew up next to a swimming pool and the sport soon took over her life.

She first attracted attention for her performances in the pool in the late 1990s and represented South Africa at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. She was in the women's medley relay team that finished fifth in the final.

She held several national titles and competed for South Africa at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur and again in 2002 in Manchester.

The blue-eyed blonde began attracting front page coverage in 2006, after being photographed on Prince Albert's arm at a number of functions in Monaco, during a lengthy spell on the sidelines while recuperating from a shoulder injury.

She was first spotted with the prince in 2000 at an event in Monte Carlo and was subsequently his guest at high-profile events such as the Formula One Grand Prix in the principality and the opening of the 2006 Winter Olympics.

Her profile rose further when she was picked for a swimwear photo shoot by Sports Illustrated magazine.

While she has been tight-lipped about her relationship with the prince, she has admitted that the initial attention from the paparazzi was hard to take.

"I feel now that they respect the fact that I have a career, and that I need my space," she told the Durban-based Sunday Tribune newspaper.

"At first it was a bit different, but everything has settled now," she told the newspaper.

As rumours of their relationship swirled, Prince Albert sued the weekly Paris-Match which published a report headlined Albert and Charlene: a foretaste of a honeymoon, with photos of the couple on holiday in the Maldives.

However, it was to the same magazine that Ms Wittstock told of her meeting with former South African President Nelson Mandela, who in a London restaurant in January 2005 persuaded her to fight to take part in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

In the end she did not compete.