Cameron coasts to victory

CROWNED top male swimmer of the three-leg Mare Nostrum Series, Cameron van der Burgh finished off an unbeaten run in the 50m breaststroke in Canet-en-Roussillon, France, on Sunday.

Van der Burgh raced to victory in the sprint event, touching the wall in a time of 27.07 seconds. The South African touched ahead of Brazilian Filipe Lima in second place, with 27.26s and the thirdplaced Yasuhiro Kaseki of Japan with 27.58.

Racing to his third consecutive victory in the 50m breaststroke, Van der Burgh clinched the overall men’s series champion title. He also boasts the third fastest time of this season, with the 26.96 he posted at the Barcelona leg of the series.

Elsewhere, dipping his toe in the water for the first time in the series, Chad le Clos had to be content with two bronze medals in the 100m and 200m butterfly.

The 200m butterfly race belonged to the Hungarians with Tamas Kenderesi hitting the wall first in a time of one minute, 54.98 seconds, while compatriot Laszlo Cseh bagged the silver in 1:56.39.

Le Clos held the lead after the first 100m, but lost ground to touch third in a time of 1:56.64.

The South African again had to be satisfied with a bronze medal in the 100m butterfly, with France’s Mehdi Metella taking the spoils in a time of 51.63. Cseh hit the wall in second place with a time of 51.87, with Le Clos racing home in 51.92.

Le Clos still holds the world-leading time of 51.29 in the 100m butterfly.

Meanwhile, freestyle ace Myles Brown was the only other top SA performer during the series, earning podium places in the 200m freestyle.

Brown finished second in Monaco with in a time of 1:48.31, before earning silver in Barcelona clocking 1:48.07.