Chad le Clos and Myles Brown led the way as the FINA World Championships Qualification short list continued to grow on the third night of swimming action at the 2017 SA National Aquatic Championships taking place in Durban.
Le Clos turned on the power and cruised ahead of Brown to an impressive qualification time of 1:46.84 in the final of the 200m freestyle. Brown ended in 1:47.55, also a FINA World Championships qualification time, while Jarryd Baxter clocked a Junior qualification time of 1:50.45 to claim the bronze.
Le Clos and Brown also finished on top of the 200m butterfly semi-final in 2:00.88 and 2:02.19 respectively, ahead of tomorrow’s final.
Rebecca Meder (14) raced to her second and third FINA Junior World Championships qualification times in the 1500m freestyle when she grabbed the gold medal in 16:49.77 and the 200m freestyle semi-finals in 2:05.66, while Abi Meder (16) made the list with a qualification time of 17:08.15 to take home the bronze in the long distance event.
Dune Coetzee (14), Kate Beavon (16), Gabi Grobler (17) and Jenna Pearse (16) also made the cut in the 200m freestyle in FINA Junior World Championships qualification times of 2:03.69, 2:04.48, 2:05.64 and 2:05.89 respectively.
Mariella Venter (17) was over the moon as she confirmed her FINA Junior World Championships qualification time in the 100m backstroke, clocking a golden 1:01.53 ahead of Seychelles’ Felicity Passon and Alexus Laird in 1:03.11 and 1:04.54, respectively.
The semi-final of the 50m breaststroke saw Cameron van der Burgh in the lead with a time of 27.06, followed by Brad Tandy (28.00) and Jared Pike (28.41), while on the ladies side, Tatjana Schoenmaker touched the wall first in 31.68 ahead of Tara-Lynn Nicholas in 32.20 and Kaylene Corbett in 32.27, with the finals set to take place tomorrow.
Corbett was back in the water for the 100m breaststroke final, winning the silver and confirming her FINA Junior World Championships qualification in a time of 1:09.46, alongside Hanim Abrahams who finished in 1:11.18 to the required 1:11.79. Schoenmaker claimed the gold in the event in 1:08.36.
In the 100m backstroke final, Jacques van Wyk was victorious with a time of 56.52, while the silver and bronze went to Martin Bindell and Neil Fair in 56.58 and 57.42, respectively.
The multi-disability races, saw Cornell Loubser and Mark Roach top the medal podium in the S14-15 100m butterfly events in 1:05.50 and 1:00.38, respectively, while Kaleb van der Merwe won the S1-13 category in 1:13.44.
The day 04 heats will start at 10h00 while the finals will begin at 18h00 daily.
The staging of this event has been made possible through the support provided by Swimming SA partners, Sport and Recreation South Africa, SASCOC, National Lotteries Commission, Arena and Rand Water.
Qualifying Times following Day 03 – 17th FINA World Championships:
- Cameron van der Burgh – 100m breaststroke – 59.73
- Chad le Clos – 200m freestyle – 1:46.84
- Myles Brown – 200m freestyle – 1:47.55
Qualifying Times following Day 03 – 6th FINA Junior World Swimming Championships:
- Dune Coetzee – 100m butterfly – 1:01.04, 200m freestyle (SF) – 2:03.69
- Kate Beavon – 200m freestyle (SF) – 2:04.48
- Jarryd Baxter – 400m freestyle – 3:51.85, 200m freestyle – 1:50.45
- Timothy Sates – 200m freestyle (SF) – 1:52.94
- Rebecca Meder – 200m individual medley – 2:16.24, 1500m freestyle – 16.49.77, 200m freestyle (SF) – 2:05.66
- Jenna Pearse – 200m freestyle (SF) – 2:05.89
- Abi Meder – 1500m freestyle – 17:08.15
- Gabi Grobler – 200m individual medley – 2:19.83, 200m freestyle (SF) – 2:05.64
- Christina Mundell – 200m individual medley (SF) – 2:20.51, 100m breaststroke (SF) – 1:11.56
- Michael Houlie – 100m breaststroke – 1:03.20
- Daniel Swanepoel – 100m breaststroke -1:03.07
- Bryce Skea– 100m breaststroke -1:03.07
- Duncan Rudolph– 100m breaststroke (SF) -1:03.36
- Bailey Musgrave– 100m breaststroke (SF) -1:03.56
- Kaylene Corbett – 100m breaststroke – 1:09.46
- Hanim Abrahams – 100m breaststroke – 1:11.18
- Mariella Venter – 100m backstroke – 1:01.53
- Inge Weidemann – 50m freestyle – 26.26
Press release courtesy of Swimming South Africa
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