Le Clos stays on the mark

It was a close finish between Chad le Clos and Myles Brown in the final of the 200m freestyle. Le Clos came out on top and confirmed his Olympic Qualification time with a golden 1:47.75, while the silver medal went to Brown in 1:48.29 and the bronze to Egypt’s Marwan Elkamash in 1:48.34.

Le Clos’s second Olympic Qualification time came in the 200m butterfly semi-finals, where he led the pack from start to finish and posted a fast 1:55.61, to the required 1:56.97, while Sebastien Rousseau was a close second in 1:57.60. The final of the event will take place tomorrow. 

The phenomenal performances continued with Christopher Reid, who raced to the gold and an Olympic qualification time of 54.02 in the 100m backstroke finals, followed by Zane Waddell in 56.09 and Jacques van Wyk in 56.25.

The 200m individual medley semi-finals saw Marlies Ross, Kirsty McLauchlan and Gabi Grobler take the top three positions in 2:16.17, 2:19.29 and 2:21.61, respectively. The final will be held tomorrow.

Karin Prinsloo came one step closer to making the Olympic Qualifying Time of 1:58.96 in the 200m freestyle, when she won the semi-finals this evening in 2:00.96 ahead of Kristin Bellingan in 2:04.98 and Caitlin Kat in 2:05.59. 

In the 100m backstroke final, Mariella Venter walked away with the title in 1:01.32, with Nathania van Niekerk in second, clocking 1:02.41 and Jessica Ashley-Cooper third in 1:02.46, while the 100m breaststroke gold was claimed by Tatjana Schoenmaker in 1:09.17 ahead of Franko Jonker in 1:09.24 and Tara Nicholas in 1:09.30.

With five athletes having already swum eight Paralympic Qualifying Times to date, Shireen Sapiro (S10) and Emily Gray (S9) added their names on the short list to Rio by improving on their heat times to finish the 100m backstroke in 1:11.87 and 1:17.17, dipping under the set 1:13.40 and 1:17.70, respectively.

Hendri Herbst posted his first Paralympic Qualification time in the S11 100m backstroke, claiming the gold in 1:16.84, while Craig Groenewald won the S14 and S15 event in 1:09.50, with Aaron Putz coming in second in 1:11.39 and Challis Wright third in 1:11.66.

Christelle Kriel just missed out on the Paralympic Qualification time in the S14 and S15 100m backstroke, when she finished with a time of 1:16.40 to the required 1:16.23, while Michaela Kretzen took the silver in 1:26.18 and Maritza Snyders the bronze in 1:31.36.

The day 04 heats will start at 10h00 while the finals will begin at 18h30 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, Rand Water and the SABC.

Olympic Qualifying Times following Day 03:

·         Sebastien Rousseau – 400m individual medley – 4:14.75

·         Michael Meyer – 400m individual medley – 4:15.71

·         Myles Brown – 400m freestyle – 3:48.86

·         Cameron van der Burgh – 100m breaststroke – 59.66

·         Christopher Reid – 100m backstroke – 54.02

·         Chad le Clos – 200m freestyle – 1:47.75

·         Chad le Clos – 200m butterfly (SF) – 1:55.61

Paralympic Qualifying Times following Day 03:

·         Kevin Paul (SM10) – 200m individual medley – 2:15.78

·         Kevin Paul (SB9) – 100m breaststroke – 1:05.10

·         Johann van Heerden (SB9) – 100m breaststroke – 1:12.64

·         Alani Ferreira (SM13) – 200m individual medley – 2:50.43

·         Alani Ferreira (S13) – 400m freestyle – 5:21.00 (heats)

·         Alani Ferreira (SB13) – 100m breaststroke – 1:26.90

·         Emily Gray (S9) – 400m freestyle – 5:05.36 (heats)

·         Emily Gray (S10) – 100m backstroke – 1:17.17

·         Craig Groenewald (SB14) – 100m breaststroke – 1:12.33

·         Hendri Herbst (S11) – 100m backstroke – 1:16.84

·         Shireen Sapiro (S10) – 100m backstroke – 1:11.87

*SF – Semi-Final