The 2018 South African National Aquatic Championships wrapped up today with 18 athletes swimming to an impressive total of 31 Youth Olympic Qualification times at the Newton Park Swimming Pool in Port Elizabeth.
On the final day of the competition, Mariella Venter cemented her Youth Olympics Qualification time in the 200m backstroke with a fast 2:12.06, over 4 seconds under the required 2:17.83, with Samantha Randle claiming the silver in 2:17.50 and Megan Tully the bronze in 2:18.74.
In the men’s backstroke race, Martin Binedell was victorious in 2:01.02, while Brent Szurdoki walked away with the silver in 2:03.03 and Ian Venter the bronze in 2:05.79.
Szurdoki also bagged the bronze in the 400m individual medley in 4:27.06 behind Ayrton Sweeney (4:22.80) and Jarryd Baxter (4:26.72), while Randle went one better, winning the gold in 4:55.54 to Jessica Whelan’s 4:55.80 and Marne Frylinck’s 5:00.50.
In the 800m freestyle, Kate Beavon, Abi Meder and Dune Coetzee all dipped under the 9:00.16 Youth Olympics requirement to scoop the gold, silver and bronze in 8:47.07, 8:52.22 and 8:53.21, respectively, while KZN’s Aryan Makhija made the Qualification list with a silver medal time of 8:14.90 to Baxter’s gold time of 8:13.86 and James Freeman’s bronze 8:17.94.
Douglas Erasmus took the honors in the fast-pace 50m freestyle in 23.11 ahead of Gawie Nortje in a Qualification time of 23.12 and Armand Maritz in 23.54, while on the ladies’ side, Erin Gallagher was once again in top form, claiming the gold in 25.74, followed by Emma Chelius in 26.29 and Aimee Canny in 26.67.
Gallagher concluded the Championships with yet another gold medal, this time in the 100m butterfly, clocking 1:00.19 with Coetzee a close second in a Qualification time of 1:01.26, while Henju Duvenhage, despite finishing fifth, confirmed his Youth Olympics Qualification time by touching the wall in 55.19, with the gold medal going to Daniel Ronaldson in 54.38.
Lara van Niekerk and Michael Houlie both raced to Qualification Standard times in the 50m breaststroke and walked away with the gold medals in 32.18 and 28.50, respectively.
In the para 200m individual medley events, Michaela Kretzen (SM14), Alani Ferreira (SM13), Ethan Pause (SM14) and Christian Sadie (SM7) topped the medal podium in 3:07.03, 2:53.33, 2:35.05 and 2:52.55, respectively.
The final team for the 3rd Youth Olympic Games, which will be held in Argentina from 6th to 18th October, will be selected by SASCOC.
SASCOC will also select the final teams for the AUSC Region 5 U20 Youth Games in Botswana as well as the African Youth Games in Algeria, while the final team selection for the Senior Africa Swimming Championships, also in Algeria, will be done by Swimming SA.
The staging of this event was made possible through the support provided by Swimming SA partners, Sport and Recreation South Africa, SASCOC, National Lotteries Commission, Arena and Rand Water.
Final A Qualifying Times – Youth Olympic Games:
- Michael Houlie – 100m breaststroke – 1:02.57
- Micheal Houlie – 50m breaststroke – 28.50
- Christin Mundell – 100m breaststroke – 1:10.72
- Christin Mundell – 200m individual medley – 2:18.31
- Christin Mundell – 200m breaststroke – 2:29.96
- Mariella Venter – 100m backstroke – 1:01.86
- Mariella Venter – 200m individual medley – 2:18.35
- Mariella Venter – 50m backstroke – 29.55
- Mariella Venter – 200m backstroke – 2:12.06
- Kerryn Herbst – 50m backstroke – 29.81
- Henju Duvenhage – 50m backstroke – 26.57
- Henju Duvenhage – 100m butterfly – 55.19
- Kate Beavon – 200m freestyle – 2:03.27
- Kate Beavon – 400m freestyle – 4:14.58
- Kate Beavon – 800m freestyle – 8:47.07
- Abi Meder – 800m freestyle – 8:52.22
- Dune Coetzee – 200m butterfly – 2:14.73
- Dune Coetzee – 400m freestyle – 4:14.82
- Dune Coetzee – 100m butterfly – 1:01.26
- Dune Coetzee – 800m freestyle – 8:53.21
- Ethan du Preez – 200m butterfly – 2:02.73
- Ruan Breytenbach – 200m butterfly – 2:03.49
- Tiago Cordeiro – 200m butterfly – 2:03.26
- Riccardo di Domenico – 50m butterfly – 25.00 (SF)
- Luan Grobbelaar – 200m individual medley – 2:05.82
- Gawie Nortje – 100m freestyle – 50.81
- Gawie Nortje – 50m freestyle – 23.12
- Paige Brombacher – 200m breaststroke – 2:31.93
- Aimee Canny – 50m freestyle – 26.43 (SF)
- Lara van Niekerk – 50m breaststroke – 32.18
- Aryan Makhija – 800m freestyle – 8:14.90
*SF – semi-final
— This meet information was provided by Swimming South Africa.