Day five preliminary rounds update - 2011 Telkom South Africa National Championship
South African National Swimming Championship is on course to complete the national team for the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai, this July. The competition is scheduled to conclude on April 16, with the selection of stupendous swimmers clocking a time
under the FINA A-Time Qualification Standard.
The morning session included the preliminary rounds of the 50m freestyle, 200m back-stroke, 1500m freestyle, 400m freestyle and the 200m Individual Medley in the Men’s and Women’s category.
The Men’s 50m freestyle was the first event of the session, where Gideon Louw’s astounding swimming style bestowed him with the top qualification spot in the semi-final. Louw touched the wall in a time of 22.75 seconds and out-touched defending champion,
Roland Schoeman. Schoeman ended his sprint second, clocking a time of 22.83 seconds ahead of the Graeme Moore, who qualified as the third fastest swimmer in a time of 23.07 seconds.
Moments later, Natasha DE Vos sprinkled her energetic swim in the Women’s 200m back-stroke. DE Vos materialised for the top contender spot in the first lap of the race. She maintained her lead from her following swimmers and clocked a time of 2:19.06 minutes.
She was followed by NTS-NT’s Leone Vorster and Jessica Pengelly, who touched the wall in 2:19.90 and 2:20.15 minutes, respectively. Ashley Cooper of WPA-WP failed to achieve a top-three finish in the final lap, clocking a time of 2:21.95 minutes for the fourth
qualification.
In the Men’s 1500m freestyle, Heerden Herman amused the arena with his 22 seconds dominance from the second finisher. WPA-WP’s Herman occupied the fastest qualification spot in a time of 15:28.70 minutes, while KZNA-KZ’s Nicholas Kieck touched the wall for
second spot, clocking a time of 15:50.04 minutes. Nick Manousakis of Greece-ZZ followed them into the finals, reporting in a time of 15:54.90 minutes.
After a few minutes, 14-year-old Michelle Weber dominated the event by posting a fastest swim of 4:20.88 minutes. Her time was only 0.11 seconds better than her closest swimmer, Kathryn Meaklin, who touched the wall second in 4:20.99 minutes. Rene’ D Warnes
surfaced for the third fastest qualification spot in 4:22.99 minutes.
The last event of the session was the Men’s 200m IM, which was dominated by WPA-WP’s Sebastien Rousseau, who earned the fastest qualification spot by overwhelming Darian Townsend in the last lap of the race. Rousseau earned the fastest qualification spot
by touching the wall in 2:02.51 minutes ahead of the Townsend and Chad Le Clos, who posted 2:03.11 and 2:03.27 minutes, respectively.
Top eight swimmers of the above events will make their appearances into the finals, whereas, winners satisfying the FINA Time Qualification Standard will be confirmed with their places to Shanghai.
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