Amazing swimming on third day
by Neville Smith 19 August 2012, 07:54
An impressive total of 13 A qualification times were raced by Mzansi's best on the third day of the SA National Short Course Championships in Pietermaritzburg on Saturday.
A triple qualification time feast took place during the 100m freestyle final with Roland Schoeman, Darian Townsend and Leith Shankland all dipping under the 48.54 requirement in 46.50, 47.17 and 48.47 respectively.
Schoeman added four more A-qualification times to his tally on the third day of the competition, finishing first in both his 50m freestyle semifinal (in 21.57) and his 50m breaststroke semifinal (in 27.10), and then winning the 100m freestyle final and claiming silver in the 100m individual medley in 53.62.
The 100m individual medley final was also lucky for winner Darian Townsend, finishing in 52.92, while qualification times were also made by Leith Shankland in 54.70 and Darren Murray in 54.94.
Olympic gold medallist and world record-holder Cameron van der Burgh sped to the final with a qualification time of 26.84 in the 50m breaststroke semifinals.
Another qualification time was scored by Neil Versfeld in the 100m breaststroke when he claimed the gold in 59.32 with Darren Murray winning the 50m backstroke semifinals in a qualification time of 24.63.
Myles Brown took the 400m freestyle title, clocking a fast 3:47.12, Michael Meyer won silver in 3:53.41 and Riaan Schoeman got the bronze in 3:55.46. Garth Tune won the 100m butterfly in 53.08.
Jessica Ashley-Cooper recorded her second qualification time, racing to a fast 28.11 in the 50m backstroke semifinals, while Marne Erasmus was first in the 100m butterfly semifinals in a qualification time of 59.57.
In the 50m freestyle semifinal, Olympian Trudi Maree came out tops, touching the wall in a qualification time of 25.15.
The 100m freestyle race was won by Lehesta Kemp in 56.04 with Megan Stephens taking the silver in 56.98 and Kyna Pereira the bronze in 57.23, while Vanessa Mohr was victorious in the 50m butterfly in 26.73 ahead of Marne Erasmus and Jessica Ashley-Cooper.
Veteran Mandy Loots was fast in the 100m individual medley, edging out Kathryn Meaklim by 0.03sec to win in 1:02.70 to Meaklim's 1:02.73, while Jessica Pengelly claimed the gold in the 400m freestyle with a time of 4:09.16 ahead of Kyna Pereira and Rene Warnes.
The ladies 4x200m freestyle relay event was once again won by the Tuks team in 8:55.03, while the men's race was claimed by the KZN team in 7:28.68.
In the multi-disability events, Alani Ferreira won gold in the 100m breaststroke (S1-13) while Cornelia Fowler took the S13-14 category title.
Tenza Abrahams and Christelle Kriel bagged the 100m butterfly gold medals in the S1-13 and S14-15 categories respectively.
Tadhg Slattery scooped his second gold in the 100m breaststroke (S5) while Craig Groenewald won the S14-15 race. Groenewald also took gold in the 100m butterfly later on in the evening.
The SA Short Course Championships concludes on Sunday, with the heats beginning at 9:30am CAT (SA, GMT+2) and the finals starting at 2pm.
The Fina World Short Course Championships will be held in Istanbul, Turkey from 12 to 16 December 2012.
Fina World Short Course Championships qualification times following Day 3:
Chad le Clos - 200m freestyle, 50m butterfly (SF)
Darian Townsend - 200m freestyle, 100m individual medley, 100m freestyle (SF)
Jessica Pengelly - 400m individual medley, 800m freestyle
Kathryn Meaklim - 400m individual medley Darren Murray - 100m backstroke, 50m backstroke (SF), 100m individual medley
Roland Schoeman - 50m butterfly, 100m individual medley, 50m breaststroke (SF), 50m freestyle (SF)
Karin Prinsloo - 100m Backstroke (SF)
Jessica Ashley Cooper- 100m Backstroke (SF), 50m backstroke (SF)
Neil Versfeld - 100m breaststroke, Neil Versfeld (SF)
Leith Shankland - 100m individual medley
Marne Erasmus - 100m butterfly (SF)
Cameron van der Burgh - 50m breaststroke (SF)
Trudi Maree - 50m freestyle (SF)
