SA swimmers just shy of perfection

IT WAS a near-perfect day for South African swimmers on the fourth day of the African Swimming Championships in Bloemfontein as the team missed out on gold in only one event yesterday.

The country won five gold medals in total as four swimmers won their second titles of the seven-day championships.

Ayrton Sweeney added the 200m breaststroke gold to the 400m Individual Medley title he won on Monday, posting a time of 2:16.96.

Alaric Basson, who won the 100m breaststroke on the first day of the gala, claimed second place in a time of 2:20.82.

Rio Olympian Myles Brown also earned his second title of the continental showpiece when he won his specialist 400m event in a time of 3:54.80.

South Africa’s young female duo of Kaylene Corbett and Hanim Abrahams occupied the top two steps of the podium in the 100metre breaststroke.

Corbett touched first in a time of 1:11.81, with 14-year-old Abrahams bagging the silver in 1:12.35.

Nathania van Niekerk won her second gold of the gala, hitting the wall first in the women’s 100m butterfly in a time of 1:02.61.

Olympic Open Water swimmer Michelle Weber earned the country’s final individual medal of the day when she finished in third place in the women’s 800m event with a time of 9:15.89.