Day three of the XII CANA African Swimming Championships brings more medals for the South African Swimming Team

Port Elizabeth’s Kaylene Corbette (17) led the South African charge, winning the 50m breaststroke final and breaking the 2008 Championship Record of 32.64, when she touched the wall in a golden time of 32.58. Teammate Hanim Abrahams came a close second in 33.08 and Egypt’s Mai Atef third in 33.44.

In the 400m freestyle, it was Caitlin Kat who came out tops in 4:24.74. SA’s Jessica Whelan was in the lead for the first three laps but Kat’s sprint in the last 200m proved too strong and Whelan finished with the bronze in 4:29.68, while Algeria’s Souad Nefissa Cherouna came second in 4:26.44.

Mariella Venter was quick off the block in the 100m backstroke, easily winning the race in 1:02.44, over three seconds ahead of Seychelles’ Alexus Laird in 1:05.53 and Egypt’s Ingy Abouzaid in 1:06.50.

Martin Binedell and Neil Fair were too quick for Egypt’s Ahmed Hamdy, walking away with the gold and silver in the 200m backstroke in 2:03.43 and 2:04.33, respectively, to Hamdy’s bronze time of 2:07.45.

In the 50m butterfly, Douglas Erasmus added another gold medal to the host nation’s tally in 24.33, while Alard Basson claimed the bronze in 24.83 and Egypt’s Hassan Yasser the silver in 24.64.

Algeria grabbed their second gold of the competition in the 100m freestyle, with Oussama Sahnoune claiming the gold in a new Championship Record time of 49.60 ahead of Mzansi’s Calvyn Justus in 50.21 and Egypt’s Mohamed Samy in 50.29.

The 4 x 100m freestyle ladies relay saw Algeria take home the gold in 4:00.92 ahead of Egypt in 4:06.62, while the South African team was disqualified due to a false start.

In the men’s 4 x 200m freestyle relay, Myles Brown, Josh Dannhauser, Brent Szurdoki and Calvyn Justus claimed the gold in 7:36.80 to end the evening on a high note ahead of Egypt in 7:38.89 and Morocco in 8:10.37.

The CANA Annual Congress will be held tomorrow, while the athletes take a much-deserved rest day, with the swimming action back on Thursday, 20th October, starting with the heats at 10h00, while the finals will begin at 16h00.

Medal rankings (after day 03):

For photos from the XII CANA African Swimming Championships – Day 03, please visit - http://www.superimage.co.za/detail.aspx?i=1647 

ENDS

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.