South African Masters swimmers said goodbye to summer in the southern hemisphere with world records last week at the South African long course championships.
Sanderina Kruger was part of three of the four world records set at the meet in Johannesburg, including one individual mark and two relay records. She swam a 31.36 in the 50 freestyle to lower her own world record of 31.43 from the same meet last year in the 65-69 age group. The 66-year-old’s talents were put to good use on two record-setting relays as well, including a 1:10.45 leadoff in the women’s 400 free relay for the 240-279 age group. Following Kruger on the relay were Judy Brewis, Cecilia Stanford and Dianne Coetzee for a 4:47.03 that broke the Masters world record of 4:49.89 by Plano Wetcats that was set last July.
Kruger put up a 1:10.22 split on the second leg of the mixed 400 free relay for the 240-279 age group to help set a world record there as well. She was joined by Calvin Maughan, Dianne Coetzee and Tim Shead on the relay to post a 4:19.89 and beat the nine-month-old world record of 4:24.45 set by the Sarasota Y Masters last June. Maughan’s leadoff time of 54.16 broke the 100 freestyle world record of 54.94 by American Bob Bugg from 2009.
Maughan is making a return to swimming after a 30-year hiatus and has been close to breaking sprint freestyle world records in the past two years. The records in the 100 free and the relay mark his first Masters world records. Shead, who was named as one of the World Masters Swimmers of the Year by Swimming World Magazine last year, is returning to the sport gradually after taking time off to heal from shoulder surgery last summer.
Kruger’s best 100 free at the meet was done in the individual event, where she nearly broke her own world record of 1:09.63 with a 1:10.10.