South African swimmers astonish in swimming events: South African LC Nationals – Part 2
After the scintillating performances of Chad Guy Bertrand Le Clos and Kathryn A Meaklim on the opening day of the South African Long Course Nationals, the crowd was eager to see the unmatchable talent of their national stars on second day of the event.
The session included 100m backstroke, 200m freestyle, 100m butterfly, 100m breaststroke, and 400m freestyle in the Men and Women’s corner.
The opening event of the session was Women’s 100m backstroke semi-finals, where the 22-year-old Karin Prinsloo elevated her efforts and qualified into the playoff as fastest swimmer by reporting a time of 1 minute and 01.15 seconds.
Her invincible effort was trailed by Ashley-Cooper, who stayed full body length slower from her foregoing finisher and entered the final round as second best swimmer with the timing of 1 minute and 03.22 seconds.
The third fastest qualification spot of the race was secured by Lehesta Kemp, who stayed marginally slower from her foregoing competitor and touched the wall with the timing of 1 minute and 03.44 seconds.
Following that, the crowd witnessed a remarkable effort of Le Clos in the 200m freestyle semi-finals. With his immaculate effort in the second round of the race, Le Clos qualified into the final round as top contender for gold medal by touching the wall
with the timing of 1 minute and 47.20 seconds.
His gruelling effort remained almost one body length ahead of Darian Townsend, who finished his swim in second best place by producing a time of 1 minute and 48.26 seconds.
Townsend was trailed by Sebastien Rousseau, who made his way into the playoff as third fastest swimmer by submitting a time of 1 minute and 48.58 seconds.
The third event of the session was Women’s 100m butterfly, where the 17-year-old Vanessa Mohr upset her challengers by securing gold medal of the discipline.
With her remarkable efforts, Mohr went on a rampage in the butterfly discipline as she snared gold medal of the discipline with the timing of 59.72 seconds.
She was followed by Mandy T Loots, who qualified into the playoff as fastest swimmer but failed to overpower Mohr’s pace in the final round and finished second by submitting a time of 59.81 seconds.
Loots was chased by Marne Erasmus, who reached the finishing end for bronze medal by reporting a time of 1 minute and 00.84 seconds.
Afterwards, Cameron van der Burgh shattered his challengers by seizing gold medal of the 100m event. The 23-year-old Burgh remained considerably faster from his former finishers and touched the wall with the timing of 59.90 seconds.
He was followed by Neil Versfeld, who proved his mettle for second position by clocking a time of 1 minute and 00.99 seconds.
The 27-year-old Versfeld was trailed by Giulio A Zorzi, who occupied third position of the event with an effort of 1 minute and 02.61 seconds.
Subsequently, Wendy A Trott proved her mettle for gold medal of the Women’s 400m freestyle. The 22-year-old Trott faced no trouble in claiming gold medal of the 400m discipline as she tapped the wall with the timing of 4 minutes and 12.86 seconds.
She was followed Michelle Weber, who remained nearly three seconds behind and ended second with the timing of 4 minutes and 15.91 seconds. Jessica Pengelly obtained third position of the discipline as she hit the wall with an effort of 4 minutes and 16.35
seconds.
To be continued in Part 3.
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