Brown shines at SA Champs and beats training partner Le Clos in 200 free
THE South African National Championships in Durban is turning out to be a memorable one for Myles Brown, with two world qualification times behind his name after the third day at King’s Park.
Brown crept up on Olympic gold medallist Chad le Clos in the men’s 200m freestyle to post a qualifying time of 1:47.44, with Le Clos also dipping below the standard for the Fina World Long Course Championships in a time of 1:47.89.
Le Clos already met the mark in this event in Tuesday’s semi-final, while Brown also qualified for the 400m freestyle on Monday.
“It’s always nice to get a win, and although it’s not a great time for world rankings, I really wanted to get the qualifying time tonight. Chad is a tough competitor to beat,” Brown said after beating his training partner.
“I am really happy with the win tonight. I will see how fit I am to do the 800m free tomorrow, but I am excited to race the 4X100m relay as well.”
Brown said he was satisfied with his performances in the pool as he had achieved qualifying times in the 400m and the 200m free.
Le Clos said he was disappointed with his time as he had hoped to go at least two seconds faster last night.
“I am obviously very disappointed with my time, I wanted to go faster,” Le Clos said.
“I really thought I would do 1:45.00, I have had really good training before the championships, I feel I am in my best shape.
“I have to swim this time at Mare Nostrum. I know I have a lot of work to do.”
Sebastien Rousseau also earned his place for the World Championships in the semifinal of the 200m butterfly along with Le Clos.
The US-based swimmer posted a time of 1:56.40, with Le Cos posting a time of 1:57.39.
“The plan was to just swim a good time as the 200 fly is the really important race to me,” Rousseau said.
“I think for the relay Chad, Myles and myself have a good chance to challenge at the Olympics – it’s a pity Dylan Bosch isn’t competing here.”
In the 100m backstroke Ricky Ellis was crowned champion, posting a time of 55.61 to beat Neil de Villiers (55.70) in second place and Gergard Zandberg in third place with 55.77 seconds.
Meanwhile, Mariella Venter claimed the women’s 100m backstroke title with a time of 1:02.03, while Nathania van Niekerk came second with 1:02.72 and Jessica AshleyCooper was third in 1:03.09.
Tatjana Schoenmaker beat Tara Nicholas to the wall in the women’s 100m breaststroke with a time of 1:08.85.
Nicholas clocked a time of 1:09.04 with Franko Jonker taking third place in 1:09.98. SSA has made it clear that swimmers must participate at the SA National Swimming Championships, and that qualification time standards at the trials will be considered for selection.
Morning heats start at 9.30am and finals at 6pm. – Swimming South Africa Myles Brown: 200m & 400m freestyle Cameron van der Burgh: 100m butterfly Chad le Clos: 200m freestyle Sebastien Rousseau: 200m butterfly