The SA Grand Prix Invitational Swimming Meet kicked off in Nelspruit today
Dune Coetzee made her way to the medal podium on three occasions, winning gold in the 200m butterfly in 2:21.02 and the 400m freestyle in 4:24.87 and finishing the day with a silver medal in the 100m freestyle in 59.92.
Erin Gallagher scooped the gold in the freestyle event, clocking a fast 56.39, while the bronze went to Trinity Hearne in 59.95, with Hearne also winning the silver in the 200m butterfly in 2:24.31.
The ladies continued to showcase their talent with Rebecca Meder walking away with two gold medals, touching the wall in 4:50.21 in the 400m individual medley and 2:35.91 in the 200m breaststroke.
The silver and bronze in the medley race went to Jessica Whelan in 5:07.41 and Jemma Tully in 5:16.39, while Kayla Schefermann and Hannah Drewes finished second and third in the breaststroke in 2:57.18 and 2:59.53, respectively.
In the 100m backstroke, the top spot went to Kerryn Herbst in 1:06.60, with Lindsay McLeod a close second in 1:06.83 and Megan Tully third in 1:07.71.
Ayrton Sweeney was also twice lucky, winning the 200m freestyle in 1:53.27 and the 200m individual medley in 2:04.99, while Martin Binedell was victorious in the 200m backstroke in 2:04.42 ahead of Dylan Wright in 2:06.93 and Brand van Zyl in 2:14.43.
The title of the 50m freestyle went to Douglas Erasmus in 23.20 ahead of Alard Basson in 23.87 and Alaric Basson in 24.05, with Erasmus also claiming the bronze in the 100m butterfly in 57.69 while Alard Basson went one better and bagged the gold in 55.03. The silver in the race went to Ethan du Preez in 56.42.
Alaric Basson on the other hand concluded the first day of the competition with a gold in the 100m breaststroke, followed by Bailey Musgrave in 1:04.87 and Jacques Malan in 1:07.77, while the long distance 800m freestyle gold went to Divan Bester in 8:57.28 and the silver to Edrick Potgieter in 12:06.90.
In the U13 youth events, the very talented Christopher Strydom (12) won three gold medals in the 100m freestyle in 1:02.32, the 50m freestyle in 29.10 and the 100m backstroke in 1:09.18.
Zak Grobler (13) managed a second place finish in the backstroke race in 1:10.60, while he claimed bronze in both the 50 and 100m freestyle in 29.66 and 1:05.76, respectively.
At only 11 years old, Port Elizabeth’s Khwezi Jacobs won two gold medals in the 100m breaststroke in 1:23.59 and the 200m individual medley in 2:50.79 but had to settle for the silver in the 100m butterfly with a time of 1:15.31.
In the Open Water section of the competition, Hennie Louw won both the 5 and 10km races in 01:00:01 and 02:04:00, while the silver medals were claimed by Eric le Roux 01:02:03 and 02:07:38, respectively, Reino von Wielligh won the bronze in the 10km in 02:07:40 and Aiden Pietersen the bronze in the 5km in 01:02:05.
On the ladies’ side, the 10km gold went to Carli Antonopolulos in 02:17:04 ahead of Stephanie Houtman in 02:17:14 and Amica de Jager in 02:19:36, while Antonopolulos also walked away with the bronze in the 5km race in 01:06:55 behind Abi Meder in 01:03:29 and De Jager in 01:03:49.
In the 3km race, Connor Albertyn and Victoria Earle were the fastest in 00:39:47 and 00:39:49, respectively.
The Nelspruit leg of the SA Grand Prix concludes tomorrow with the swimming finals session starting at 08h30.
ENDS
For further information please contact:
Swimming South Africa
011 404 2480
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.