SA stars make waves in pool

While local star Chad le Clos struggled to keep his season on the rails due to injury, he was able to hang on as he joined Tatjana Schoenmaker in leading the charge, with swimming cementing its place as one of South Africa’s leading sport codes.

With Le Clos fighting to stay fit, Schoenmaker was the standout performer in 2019, again showcasing her immense potential.

Storming to double gold in the 100m and 200m events at the World Student Games in Naples in July, the 22-year-old breaststroke specialist broke her own African record, touching in 1:06.32.

Three weeks later she made history at the World Championships in Gwangju, becoming the first SA woman to step on the podium at the biennial spectacle.

After setting a new continental mark of 2:21.79 in the semifinals over the 200m distance, she grabbed silver in the final.

Erin Gallagher also enjoyed a successful season.

After setting an African record of 57.67 seconds in the 100m butterfly at the national championships in Durban in April, she carried the SA team at the African Games in Casablanca in August.

Gallagher raked in 10 medals (including eight gold) at the continental showpiece, breaking the national records in the 50m freestyle (24.95) and 50m butterfly (26.24) events.

Among the men, Le Clos proved he still had the ability to challenge his younger opponents, with the four-time Olympic medallist overcoming a groin hernia to snatch two bronze medals at the World Championships.

Limiting his schedule in order to manage the injury, Le Clos finished third in the 100m and 200m butterfly finals, stepping on the podium over the longer distance for the fourth straight edition of the global long-course showpiece.

Sprinter Zane Waddell also enjoyed a breakthrough campaign at the World Championships, charging to gold in the men’s 50m backstroke.

The 21-year-old prospect, competing in a non-Olympic event, won the sprint final in 24.43, holding off Russian opponent Evgeny Rylov by 0.06.