Van Niekerk hints she can still go faster

Swimming sensation Lara van Niekerk (above) fired a warning at the global elite after shattering another African record at the SA Short Course Championships in Pietermaritzburg at the weekend.

The 19-year-old prodigy rocketed to victory in the women’s 50m breaststroke on Saturday morning, clocking 29.67 in the heats to break her own continental mark of 29.85, and she went even quicker in the final later in the evening, touching the wall in 29.62.

In the process, she secured her place in the national team for the World Short Course Championships taking place in Melbourne in December.

Van Niekerk, who won gold in the 50m and 100m breaststroke events at the recent Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, insisted she was not slowing down any time soon.

“I’m dead because such a big competition (the Games) takes so much out of you,” she said.

“I think my results could have been slightly better, if I had all that energy I had at Commonwealths, so I think the future will have better times.”

Also building on his fine form, 18-year-old Pieter Coetzé qualified for the World Championships in the 100m backstroke, taking the national title in 51.08, and he claimed 50m freestyle gold in 22.28.

Coetzé, who returned home from the Commonwealth Games with three medals, admitted he too was tired, and he was eager to wind down a bit before building up to the World Junior Championships in Lima at the end of this month.

“I just wanted to get at least one qualifying time here (for the World Short Course Championships) so I was very happy to get that done and I’m excited to rest a little bit now ahead of the World Junior Championships,” said Coetzé.

“It will be nice to get back to basics, train a little bit and get some schoolwork done – and then I’m excited for Peru. It will be a long flight, but I’m excited.”