Day three finals of 2011 Telkom South Africa National Championships - Youth
Second session of day three of the 2011 Telkom South Africa National Championships concluded on Wednesday with the finals of the 200m back-stroke, 100m freestyle, 100m butterfly and the 200m breast-stroke in the Men’s and Women’s category.
The championship is a trial basis for the South African swimmers to qualify for the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai this July and the team will be announced after the conclusion of the championship on 16
April, 2011.
The competition commenced with the Men’s 200m back-stroke, where NTS-NT’s Ni de Villiers demonstrated a wonderful swim that placed him on the top of podium. De Villiers clocked a time of 2:05.30 to earn the gold medal but remained outside the FINA time qualification
criteria. EP-EP’s Christopher Reid followed him on the podium in a smashing time of 2:06.32 minutes and was comfortably ahead of his fellow swimmer, Reyn Pretorius of Fsa-FS, who reported in 2:09.12 minutes for the bronze medal.
Next was the Men’s 100m freestyle, where the top three finishers touch the wall one after another with a difference of 0.04 and 0.03 seconds. Zaahir Gamiet of WPA-WP earned the gold medal in a marvellous time of 52.67 seconds. He was followed by BOR-BO’s
Luke Pendock, who reached the podium for the silver medal in a time of 52.71 seconds to finish ahead of the bronze medallist, Jonathan MacMillan, who touched the wall in 52.74 minutes.
Moments after, Kaleigh Graham of EP-EP flaunted a spectacular swim in the Women’s 100m butterfly final. 15-year-old Graham was only 0.01 seconds ahead of the second placed finisher, clocking a time of 1:05.78 minutes for the gold medal. She demonstrated
her dynamic swimming skills in the first lap, touching the wall in 30.49 seconds ahead of Michael Barnes and Tanique Kidd, who completed their first lap in 30.84 and 30.42 seconds respectively. She also cruised her way to the top spot in the second lap by
clocking 35.29 seconds to post 1:05.78 minutes for the gold medal. While, Barnes and Kidd completed their swims in 34.95 and 35.47 seconds to post 1:05.79 and 1:05.89 minutes for the silver and bronze medal.
The final event of the session was the Women’s 200m breast-stroke final, where the 15-year-old Macfarlane of CGA-CG dominated her way for the gold medal in 2:34.99 minutes. She was followed by her team members, Ki McLauchlan and Taryn Mackenzie, who touched
the wall for second and third in a time of 2:36.67 and 2:36.88 minutes respectively.
The championship will continue for three more days to complete the national team to compete at Shanghai.
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