Every South African a Swimmer

Day 02 of the 2018 SA National Junior Age Group Championships in Durban

Day 02 of the 2018 SA National Junior Age Group Championships in Durban
Durban, Thursday, 22nd March 2018 - Plenty of action at the Kings Park Aquatics Centre in Durban tonight, as the skilled youth of Mzansi continued to impress at the SA National Junior Age Group Swimming Championships.

Dune Coetzee (15) kicked off her Commonwealth Games preparation with two gold medals in the 200m butterfly and 200m freestyle with a time of 2:15.93 and 2:03.89.

Another athlete preparing for the Commonwealth Games was Kaylene Corbett (18), who managed a silver medal in the 50m breaststroke with a time of 33.26, only 0.02 behind Jade Neser (17) in 33.24, while Jarryd Baxter (18), who is also looking to improve his times ahead of the Games welcomed his second gold medal of the competition in the 200m freestyle in 1:50.50.

Ethan du Preez (14) claimed the gold in the 200m butterfly 12-14 category, finishing over 7secs ahead of the competition in 2:03.04 to Luca Holtzhausen’s 2:10.49 and Matthew Sates’ 2:10.54, while Ruan Breytenbach (15) won the 15-18 category in 2:04.82 ahead of Karan Raju in 2:07.26 and Bob Fick in 2:09.55.

Sates and Holtzhausen also added the 50m breaststroke silver and bronze in 31.28 and 31.30 and finished the evening finals with bronze and silver in the 200m freestyle in 1:59.20 and 1:58.84, respectively, while Du Preez took the gold in the freestyle race in 1:57.91 and Breytenbach walked away with the bronze in his respective age group breaststroke in 30.69.

In the boys’ U12 100m backstroke, Elijah Dredge, Kian Keylock and Kinnae Lindeque claimed the top three places in 1:08.78, 1:09.69 and 1:09.77, respectively, while the 13 year old age category medal podium comprised of Pieter Coetze (1:02.88), Matthew de Gouveia (1:05.39) and Namibia’s Mikah Burger (1:05.71).

Keylock also won the 50m breaststroke race in 34.21 and grabbed the bronze in the 200m freestyle in 2:13.60.

The 14 year old age group 100m backstroke winners were Zander Landman in 1:01.06, Matthew Taylor in 1:02.29 and Corey Webb in 1:02.44, with Giano dos Santos (1:00.85), Ethan Spieker (1:01.07) and Dylan Wright (1:01.30) claiming the silverware in the 15 age group section.

Later in the day, Spieker also claimed the 200m freestyle gold in 1:56.12, while Wright won the bronze in 1:59.52.

Henju Duvenhage and Chase Rayment dipped under the one minute mark to bag the gold and silver in the 16 age group category in 57.85 and 59.37, with Andrew Ross walking away with the bronze in 1:00.04, while in the final category, the 17-18, Jack Oliver won the gold in 57.99, ahead of Aidan Baines in 59.63 and Namibia’s Ronan Wantenaar in 59.71.

Wantenaar went two better winning a gold medal in the 50m breaststroke with a time of 29.85.

In the ladies’ U12 100m backstroke finals, the gold, silver and bronze went to Chloe Gershuny (1:11.74), Alexandra Eagles (1:12.00) and Ruby Dixon (1:12.01), while the 13 year old race was won by Emma Christianson in 1:07.48, followed by Hannah Robertson in 1:09.29 and Zimbabwe’s Donata Katai in 1:09.37.

Dixon also claimed the silver medal in the 200m freestyle in 2:18.46

Sune Liebenberg, Hannah Pearse and Jana Botha took the honours in the 14 year age group race in 1:05.54, 1:05.93 and 1:06.37, while the victors in the 15 year age group category were Kerryn Herbst, Olivia Nel and Talia Fos in 1:04.41, 1:05.61 and 1:05.36, respectively.

Liebenberg finished the second day of competition with a bronze in the 200m freestyle in 2:07.99.

Megan Tully (1:05.25), Kyla Blackmore (1:06.06) and Connie Pietersen (1:06.33) claimed the gold, silver and bronze in the 16 age group event, while in the 17-18 category, it was Hannah Kiely (1:05.47), Llinde du Plessis (1:06.35) and Taneal Baptiste (1:07.09).

In the 13 year old age group 50m breaststroke race, Ryan Zasas, Luard Elstadt and Jordan Denyer won the top three places in 31.87, 31.92 and 32.93, while the ladies’ U12 medals went to Michaela dal Medico, Amy Muller and Isabelle Barrow in 35.80, 36.11 and 36.16, respectively.

Zasas made it two with a gold medal in the 200m freestyle, clocking 2:04.40.

Emma Kuhn (34.87), Dackota Tucker (35.19), Nicole Bougas (35.86) and Savannah Voigt (35.86) won the 13 year old 50m breaststroke, while Lara van Niekerk (32.48), Aimee Canny (33.05) and Paige Brombacher (33.74) brought home the medals in the 14 years section.

In the 15 year old group, Tailyn Seyffert touched the wall with a golden 33.47 ahead of Rebecca Meder in 33.81 and Lana Janson in 34.54, while Christin Mundell won the 16 year old category in 32.69 and ended the night with a gold in the 200m freestyle in 2:04.66.

In the 200m freestyle 13 year old category, Hannah Robertson topped the medal podium in 2:07.43, followed by Chloe le Roux in 2:09.01 and Veronique Rossouw in 2:09.37, while Abi Meder won the 17-18 race in 2:06.52 to Jenna Pearse’s 2:07.01 and Marine Nortjie’s 2:07.78.

The SA National Junior Age Group Championships will continue tomorrow with the heats starting at 08h30 and the finals beginning at 17h00, daily.

ENDS

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Swimming South Africa is the governing body of aquatics in South Africa.

Its objective is to encourage the practice of aquatic disciplines for all in South Africa with the purpose of promoting swimming as a life skill through Learn To Swim programmes; providing healthy exercise to South Africans of all ages and races; recruiting recreational swimmers to compete in the various competitions; and promoting competition and athlete development to the highest level. Swimming South Africa is kindly supported by SASCOC, National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund, Arena, Sport & Recreation SA and Rand Water.