Teen sensation Sates edges Le Clos in Stellenbosch
The Grand Prix Swimming meet wrapped up on Saturday at the Stellenbosch University Swimming Pool with two gold medals each for Matthew Sates, Rebecca Meder, Lara van Niekerk and Hannah Robertson
In the 50m freestyle, Sates was just 0.87 secs off the 22.01 Olympic Qualification requirement when he bagged the gold medal in 22.88 ahead of Ryan Coetzee in 23.26 and Senegal’s Elhadji Niane in 23.39, while in the 100m butterfly, the 17-yearold sped past Chad le Clos to claim the top spot in 52.30 to the Olympian’s 53.37.
The bronze in the event was claimed by Ethan du Preez in 54.32, who also went on to win the 800m freestyle in 8:54.70, while Le Clos was victorious in the 200m freestyle, clocking 1:48.83 to Matthew Bosch’s 1:54.05 and Kobe Ndebele’s 1:56.53.
Meder added two more golds to her tally in the 100m backstroke and 200m individual medley, touching in 1:05.05 and 2:17.41, respectively.
The silver and bronze in the medley race were claimed by Georgia Nel in 2:26.73 and Savannah Voigt in 2:32.98, while the rest of the backstroke medal podium comprised Bernelee Doster in 1:06.63 and Holly Cleworth in 1:07.14.
Voigt also won the bronze in the 50m breaststroke in 36.32 behind Lara van Niekerk in 31.06, Zambia’s Tilka Paljk in 33.44 and the silver in the 200m breaststroke in 2:54.03 to Emma Kuhn’s golden 2:50.52.
Van Niekerk scooped her second gold in the 50m butterfly in 28.69, followed by Michaela de Villiers in 29.24 and Courtney van Biljon in 29.41, while in the 200m butterfly, Dune Coetzee was first in 2:16.06 to Jhoane Voges’s 2:43.21.
In the 100m and 400m freestyle, it was Hannah Robertson who walked away with the gold in 58.70 and 4:31.44, while the silver and bronze in the 100m event went to Senegal’s Jeanne Boutbien in 59.38 and Rachel Groepes in 1:00.91, and in the 400m race, Tunisia’s Jamila Boulakbech and Paralympian Alani Ferreira finished second and third in 4:38.82 and 5:01.44, respectively.
Michael Houlie was over 3.35 seconds ahead of the competition in the 100m breaststroke, winning the event in 1:02.32, followed by Benji ’Sack in 1:05.67 and Malawi s Filipe Gomes in 1:09.07, while in the 50m backstroke, Wikus Potgieter took home the gold medal in 28.73 ahead of Adriaan Louw in 29.47 and Botswana’s Andile Bekker in 29.81.
Potgieter also claimed the bronze in the 200m backstroke in 2:21.22, behind Martin Binedell in 2:03.18 and Nic Flanegan in 2:16.81.
Olympic qualifying time: Matthew Sates — 200m individual medley — 1:59.02 (heats). —