Swimmers rack up fast times at SA nationals

THE SA National Aquatic Championships wrapped up with 18 athletes swimming to an impressive total of 31 Youth Olympic Qualification times at the Newton Park Swimming Pool on Saturday.

On the final day of the competition, Mariella Venter cemented her Youth Olympics Qualification time in the 200m backstroke with a fast 2:12.06, over 4secs under the required 2:17.83, with Samantha Randle claiming the silver in 2:17.50 and Megan Tully the bronze in 2:18.74.

In the men’s backstroke race, Martin Binedell was victorious in 2:01.02, while Brent Szurdoki walked away with the silver in 2:03.03 and Ian Venter the bronze in 2:05.79.

Szurdoki also bagged the bronze in the 400m individual medley in 4:27.06 behind Ayrton Sweeney (4:22.80) and Jarryd Baxter (4:26.72), while Randle went one better, winning the gold in 4:55.54 to Jessica Whelan’s 4:55.80 and Marne Frylinck’s 5:00.50.

In the 800m freestyle, Kate Beavon, Abi Meder and Dune Coetzee all dipped under the 9:00.16 Youth Olympics requirement to scoop the gold, silver and bronze in 8:47.07, 8:52.22 and 8:53.21 respectively, while KZN’s Aryan Makhija made the qualification list with a silver medal time of 8:14.90 to Baxter’s gold time of 8:13.86 and James Freeman’s bronze 8:17.94.

Douglas Erasmus took the honours in the fast-pace 50m freestyle in 23.11 ahead of Gawie Nortje in a qualification time of 23.12 and Armand Maritz in 23.54, while on the ladies’ side, Erin Gallagher was once again in top form, claiming the gold in 25.74, followed by Emma Chelius in 26.29 and Aimee Canny in 26.67.

Gallagher concluded the championships with yet another gold medal, this time in the 100m butterfly, clocking 1:00.19, with Dune Coetzee a close second in a qualification time of 1:01.26.

Henju Duvenhage, despite finishing fifth, confirmed his Youth Olympics Qualification time by touching the wall in 55.19, with the gold medal going to Daniel Ronaldson in 54.38.

Lara van Niekerk and Michael Houlie both raced to qualification standard times in the 50m breaststroke and walked away with the gold medals in 32.18 and 28.50, respectively.

In the multi-disability 200m individual medley events, Michaela Kretzen (SM14), Alani Ferreira (SM13), Ethan Pause (SM14) and Christian Sadie (SM7) topped the medal podium in 3:07.03, 2:53.33, 2:35.05 and 2:52.55, respectively.