On top of the world
Pietermaritzburg’s Matt Sates is the fastest 18-year-old swimmer in the world in the 200m individual medley and the 200m freestyle.
The talented St Charles College learner, who is coached by Wayne Riddin, from the
Seals Club, set two junior world records in these events at the opening round of the four-leg FINA World Cup series in Berlin.
His first-ever international gold medal came in the 100m individual medley, which he won with a time of 51.78 seconds.
Riddin said afterwards that he was very proud to have been poolside to watch the young swimming star, adding that his success was down to “years of consistent hard work, with many sacrifices”.
It was the start of a glittering weekend for the Pietermaritzburg-based swimmer, who won four gold medals – in the 100m, 200m and 400m individual medley races, the 200m freestyle, and a silver medal in the 400m freestyle.
Sates’ first junior world record came in the 200 IM, which he won in 1:51.45. His time also broke Athens Olympic champion, Darian Townsend’s South African and African record of 1:51.55.
“I’m very happy with my swims so far; just being here to race has been a privilege,” the teenage sensation said after the race. “I wasn’t expecting to be that fast at all and did not even know what the junior world record was.
“I am just swimming each race as they come and just trying to improve. There is a lot of racing ahead for these next three weeks so it’s great to start like this.”
Riddin, who also coached Townsend before his move to the United States, added: “In my head, I had the 1:51.55 as the target, but when we went 1:55.43 at the SA Short Course Championships, I thought maybe that was a bit of a big drop.
“When he did so well in the 400m freestyle and 100 IM on the first night [in Berlin], I thought maybe it was still a possibility, but I was a bit nervous to jinx it and say it out loud.”
Sates set another junior world record in the 200m freestyle, claiming gold ahead of 2016 Olympic champion Kyle Chalmers of Australia in a time of 1:40.65.
The time, which also saw him eclipsing the senior SA and African record belonging to Townsend, places him as the sixth fastest swimmer of all time in the short course event.
Apart from winning gold in the 100, 200 and 400 IM and the 200m freestyle, the teenager also claimed silver in the 400m freestyle.
He also bagged a cheque for $10 000 for finishing second overall at the World Cup event.
Allen van Blerk, principal of St Charles College, said the school was incredibly proud of Sates’ achievements in Berlin.
“The years of sacrifice and challenge have enabled us to join him in Berlin on the podium as he accepted his four gold medals, and remind us of the simple value of believing in dreams and investing time and energy in preparing for them to come true,” van Blerk said.
Fellow swimmer, Chad Le Clos, who took home gold, silver and bronze medals in Berlin, was also thrilled for Sates, saying: “Obviously a huge shout out to Matthew as well for a phenomenal junior world records. I’m very happy for him.”
This week, the FINA World Cup action moves to Budapest for the second leg of the series from October 7 to 9.
Watch one of Matt’s world record swims here: https://web.facebook.com/ fina1908/videos/329043362309182