The final day of the SA National Short Course Championships
16 year old Erin Gallagher continued to shine, winning three gold medals on the final night of the competition.
In the 50m freestyle, Gallagher was quick off the block with a time of 25.40 to Lehesta Kemp’s 25.78 and Jamie Reynolds’s 26.19.
The Durbanite followed that win by claiming gold in the 100m butterfly in 1:00.24 as well as the 200m freestyle in 1:59.49. Rene Warnes finished second in both events, while the bronze in the 100m butterfly went to Vanessa Mohr and the 200m freestyle to Marlies Ross.
Ross (17) was not content with the bronze and went on to win the 200m individual medley, clocking 2:17.12, over a second ahead of Jolandi Els in 2:18.10 and Savanna Best in 2:18.34.
In the 200m backstroke, Nathania van Niekerk (16) led from start to finish and won the gold in 2:11.07, ahead of Sule van der Merwe in 2:18.16 and Jessica Beukes in 2:19.25.
Van Niekerk also claimed a silver medal in the 50m backstroke in 29.40, behind Jamie Reynolds (29.38) and ahead of Tayla Lovemore (29.99)
Kaylene Corbett bagged the 100m breaststroke title in 1:09.16, while Emily Visagie took the silver in 1:10.41 and Savanna Best won her second bronze of the night in 1:10.70.
On the men’s side, Brad Tandy concluded the Championships with a gold medal in the 50m freestyle and silver in the 50m breaststroke.
Tandy won the 50m freestyle event in 21.75 to Douglas Erasmus’ 22.38 and Reynard Wessels’ 22.41, while his silver performance in the 50m breaststroke was with a time of 28.07 behind Jarred Crous in 27.95 and ahead of Cheyne Fisher in 28.08.
In the 50m backstroke, 25.25 was the time Marno Langeveldt needed to take the gold, with Neil de Villiers in second in 25.49 and Zane Waddell third in 25.91.
Gold was the order of the day for Neil Fair, Daniel Ronaldson and Martin Binedell in the 200m individual medley, 200m butterfly and 200m backstroke, winning their races in 2:03.35, 1:58.90 and 1:59.84 respectively.
The grueling 1500m freestyle race was won by Josh Dannhauser in 15:33.72, followed by Daniel Marais in 16:19.45 and Dante Nortje in 16:54.00.
In the relay events, TUKS’ Mohr, Ross, Tove van Zyl and Camryn Wheals succeeded in winning the 4 x 100m medley with a time of 4:18.28, while the TUKS men’s team of Crous, De Villiers, Erasmus and Van der Merwe won their 4 x 100m medley race in 3:41.72.
In the multi-disability events, Alani Ferreira (S1 – 13) wrapped up the competition with an additional two gold medals in the 100m freestyle in 1:11.11 and 200m individual medley in 2:50.37, while Maritza Snyder claimed the gold in the S14 – 15 100m freestyle in 1:17.29.
Aaron Putz (S14 – 15) added the 100m freestyle (1:00.72) and 200m individual medley in (2:27.30) gold medals to his tally, with Garth Willmore (S1 – 13) winning the 100m freestyle in 1:11.69.
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