Gerhard Zandberg qualifies for the 2011 Shanghai World Championships - Swimming News
Gerhard Zandberg of NTS-NT dominated the Men’s 50m back-stroke at the 2011 Telkom South Africa National Championships in Newton Park Pool, Port Elizabeth. The championship serves as a platform for South African swimmers to qualify for the national team to
compete at the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai.
The session included the events of Women’s 50m butterfly, 100m freestyle and 100m back-stroke along with the Men’s 50m back-stroke, 50m butterfly, 100m breast-stroke and the 200m freestyle.
The session instigated with the Women’s 50m butterfly final, where 16-year-old Vanessa Mohr produced a tremendous effort of 27.00 seconds to own the crown. Her time was comfortably under the FINA B-time qualification criteria, while her spot for Shanghai
will be confirmed after the conclusion of the championship. She was followed by CGA-CG’s Mandy T Loots and BOR-BO’s Marne Erasmus, who won the silver and bronze medal in 27.64 and 27.81 seconds, respectively.
Next was the Men’s 50m backstroke, where Gerhard Zandberg smashed the gold medal in FINA A-time qualification criteria of 25.34 seconds. He clocked a time of 24.90 seconds and ensured his ticket to China. KZNA-KZ’s Charles S Crous and Darren Murray of NTS-NT
touched the wall for silver and bronze medal in a time of 25.53 and 25.84 seconds, respectively.
After a few minutes, 15-year-old Tara Nicholas clocked 32.59 seconds and earned the crown for the Women’s 50m breast-stroke. She was followed by KZNA-KZ’s Suze Van Biljon and Claire Conlon, who touched the wall for second and third spot in 32.68 and 32.81
seconds, respectively.
Later, the arena witnessed a gruelling effort of NTS-NT’s Roland Schoeman in the Men’s 50m butterfly semi-final, who clocked 23.43 seconds to qualify as the fastest swimmer into the final. He was followed by CGA-CG’s Graeme J Moore and Neil C Watson, who
came second and third in a time of 24.15 and 24.35 seconds, respectively.
Moments later, Cameron van der Burgh emerged as the fastest swimmer to enter the final, clocking a time of 1:01.54 minutes ahead of the Rory L Buck and Giulio Zorzi, who reported in 1:02.86 and 1:03.73 minutes, respectively.
Karin Prinsloo proved her fastest qualification in the Women’s 100m freestyle final by touching the wall in a fastest time of 56.23 seconds. Leone Vorster and Natalie Elphick followed her into the finals by posting a time of 56.86 and 57.28 seconds, respectively.
The last event of the session was the Men’s 200m freestyle final, where Jean Basson reached the top of podium in 1:48.94 minutes. Sebastien Rousseau and Jasper Venter followed him on the podium for the silver and bronze medal, clocking a time of 1:49.65
and 1:49.87 minutes, respectively.
The championship will continue for four more days with the aim of selecting national swimmers for the South African swimming team to compete at Shanghai.
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