Gallagher sets another mark
SA CHAMPS: SATES PUSHES LE CLOS TO SHARE TITLE
Erin Gallagher shone again last night, while Chad le Clos had to settle for a rare share of a national title and Tatjana Smith picked up another gold medal on the penultimate day of the SA Swimming Championships in Gqeberha.
Gallagher, who broke her own South African record in the 50m butterfly earlier in the week, delivered again with another national mark in the women’s 100m butterfly final.
She touched the wall in 57.32, stopping the clock nearly three seconds ahead of Trinity Hearne, who grabbed the silver medal in 1:00.05.
While she was delighted with her result, Gallagher repeated the sentiments of multiple swimmers this week, with the organisers having placed the results scoreboard so far back that swimmers were forced to swim in reverse to see their results from the pool.
“It’s definitely unreal, but the worst part is touching the wall and hearing everyone scream, and you have to swim back another 25 metres just to see what your time was,” Gallagher said with a smile.
“But the time was absolutely amazing and I’m so grateful to my team-mates and my coaches.”
Meanwhile, four-time Olympic medallist Le Clos was pushed all the way to the line by 20-year-old Matthew Sates in the 100m butterfly final, with both men sharing gold in 52.07.
“I’ve said it all week. This 100m fly is more stressful than the Olympic final. It was a derby day for me and Matt, and of course we’re brothers when we race for South Africa, but tonight was a tough race,” Le Clos said.
Smith, meanwhile, won the women’s 100m breaststroke final in 1:05.48, securing her second gold medal of the national championships and again dipping under the Olympic qualifying standard over two lengths.
She didn’t have much trouble shaking off former 50m World Championships bronze medallist Lara van Niekerk (1:07.16) and Kaylene Corbett (1:07.83).