Day three of the South African National Championships continued in Durban with Chad Le Clos and Sebastien Rousseau dueling for the top position in the men’s 200 fly.
Karin Prinsloo scorched the prelims field of the women’s 200-meter free, finishing more than five seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. Prinsloo stopped the clock at a 2:01.83, adding slightly to her seed time of 2:00.14. Grabbing the second-place seed was Kristin Bellingan with a time of 2:07.18, while Jenna Pearse rounded out the top three with a 2:08.89.
Chad Le Clos and Sebastien Rousseau dueled for the first-place seed in the men’s 200-meter fly. Le Clos charged ahead early in the race, but faded enough by the end of the race for Rousseau to close the gap and finish a slim .40 seconds behind. Le Clos stopped the clock at a 2:00.22 compared to Rousseau’s 2:00.62.
Le Clos’ splits: 25.93, 30.00, 31.51, 32.78– 2:00.22
Rousseau’s splits: 27.32, 30.64, 31.36, 31.30 –2:00.62
The men’s 100-meter back S15 & S15 Multi-class proved to be a close event with the top three qualifiers posting times within one and a half seconds of each other. Craig Groenewald (S14) led the competition with a time of 1:12.30 to return as tonight’s top seed, while Challis Wright (S14) finished close behind with a 1:12.92. Grabbing third was Aaron Putz (S14) with a time of 1:13.52.
Following that was the men’s 100-meter back S1 & S13 Multi-Class grouping, this time led by Henri Herbst (S11) who turned in a time of 1:16.67 to claim the first-place seed. Achmat Hassiem (S10) posted a time of 1:14.49 for second, while Jean Pretorious (S10) was third with a 1:16.02.
Christelle Kriel (S14) grabbed first in prelims of the women’s 100-meter S14 & S15 Multi-Class with a time of 1:16.94. She was followed to the wall by Michelle Kretzen (S14, 1:26.65) and Maritza Snyders (S14, 1:32.25).
Shireen Sapiro (S10) dashed ahead of the competition in the women’s 100-meter back S1 & S13 Multi-Class field, stopping the clock at a 1:12.25. Posting the second fastest time of the morning was Emily Gray (S9) with a 1:17.41, while Alani Ferreira (S13) took third with a 1:26.92.
Marlies Ross turned in the top time of the morning in the women’s 200-meter IM, stopping the clock at a 2:17.81. Ross added just slightly to her entry time of 2:17.57. Gabby Grobler posted a time of 2:20.53 to return as the second-place seed, just ahead of Kirsty McLauchlan’s 2:22.61.
