Day five evening session of 2011 Telkom South Africa National Championship - Women’s events
Fifth day of the 2011 Telkom South Africa National Championship concluded on Friday with the stupendous efforts of Karin Prinsloo in the Women’s 50m freestyle and 50m back-stroke.
The championship is an assessment of national swimmers to represent South Africa at the Shanghai Aquatic Centre for the 2011 World Championships in July.
The session ended after the completion of Women’s 50m freestyle, 200m back-stroke, 100m breast-stroke, 400m freestyle and the 50m back-stroke finals.
The competition started with the Women’s 50m freestyle final, where the NTS-NT’s Karin Prinsloo dominated her way to the gold medal in a time of 26.08 seconds. Her swim was comparatively slower than her 50m semi-final sprint, where she posted a time of 25.97
seconds to earn the fastest qualification. Prinsloo was followed by KZNA-KZ’s Natalie Elphick and WPA-WP’s Trudi Maree, who posted 26.36 and 26.39 seconds.
Next was the Women’s 200m back-stroke, where all the swimmers failed to clock a time near FINA Time Qualification criteria. The gold medal went to Natasha DE Vos, who presented a splendid swim by touching the wall in a time of 2:15.88 minutes. NTS-NT’s Leone
Vorster and WPA-WP’s Ashley Cooper followed her on the podium for the silver and bronze medal, clocking a time of 2:16.18 and 2:16.67 seconds.
Moments later, Suzaan Van Biljon earned the crowd’s respect by earning the gold medal with a considerable distance of one second. 22-year-old Van Biljon presented a terrific sprint to win the gold medal in a time of 1:10.37 minutes ahead of her team members
Kathryn Meaklim and Ronwyn Roper, who posted 1:11.42 and 1:11.44 minutes for the silver and bronze finish.
Then, Wendy Trott received crowd’s applause for her spectacular swim in the Women’s 400m freestyle final. Trott, who qualified as the fourth fastest swimmer into the finals, earned the gold medal in a time of 4:11.97 minutes. Her time was slightly above
the FINA A-Time Qualification Standard but she has not lost her berth for China, as she clocked a time under the FINA B-Time Qualification Standard and she will be considered for the national team after the conclusion of the championship. Trott was followed
by KZNA-KZ’s Michelle Weber and Roxan Tammadge, who touched the wall for the silver and bronze medal in a time of 4:18.14 and 4:18.47 minutes.
The last event of the day was the 50m back-stroke finals, where Karin Prinsloo once again stood at the top of podium in a time of 29.18 seconds. Chanelle Van Wyk and Ashley Cooper followed her on the podium, touching home in a time of 29.28 and 29.82 seconds.
Participation of Prinsloo and Trott at the World Championships will be decided after the conclusion of the competition, as they clocked a time under FINA B-Time Qualification.
Tags: