DURBAN, South Africa, April 18. WHILE official results have yet to be posted, Cameron van der Burgh added the long course men's 50 breast world record to his resume this evening at the South African National Championships, according to Swimming South Africa.
van der Burgh posted a time of 27.06 during the men's 50 breast semifinal round to break Oleg Lisogor's global standard of 27.18 in the sprint breast event. van der Burgh already holds the world record in the 50 and 100 breaststroke events over short course.
"This was my last breaststroke race over 50 meters because the race distance is not an Olympic event and my training program is more focused towards the 100 and 200 meters breaststroke, so I am delighted with my time," van der Burgh told Swimming South Africa. "It will take a while to sink in. I still can't believe it. I am training on the program of Japanese national team head coach Norimasa Hirai, who is the former mentor to Kosuke Kitajima, and I speak to him as often as possible about my training. I train at the academy in Pretoria where Ryk Neethling is based and he is always there to pass on advice."
In other action, Lyndon Ferns clocked a 48.38 in the men's 100 free finale for the win.
"Since moving back from the USA, I have been coached by Ryk Neethling and we have been working hard on the second half of my 100 meters freestyle race," Ferns told Swimming South Africa. "I was out of training for about five weeks earlier this year after undergoing a hernia operation and even know, particularly in the butterfly event, I can feel the muscles aren't quite as strong as they need to be. It may require another operation sometime in the future, but certainly not before the FINA World Championships in Rome."
Darian Townsend equaled his semifinal time of 1:58.33 in the men's 200 IM finale for the win, while Roland Schoeman (23.15) won the men's 50 fly.
Jessica Pengelly finished second in the women's 200 IM with a 2:14.00 to reclaim the national record in the event, while Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry won the title in 2:11.39.
Wendy Trott walked away with the women's 1500 free African record with a time of 16:10.97 to crush her previous standard of 16:15.58.
Meanwhile, George du Rand topped the men's 100 back in 54.72, while Achieng Ajula-Bushell paced the women's 50 breast in 31.67.
Video of world record swim