The South African Swimming Team claimed nine medals during the opening day of the XII CANA African Swimming Championships
The first gold medal for the host nation came from 20 year-old Alaric Basson in the 100m breaststroke, touching the wall in a fast 1:03.12, while teammate Michael Houlie finished second in 1:03.46 and Egypt’s Hassan Yasser third in 1:03.66.
There was no stopping young Rebecca Meder (14) as she raced to Mzansi’s second gold medal in the 400m individual medley, clocking 4:48.81, over four seconds ahead of Algeria’s Rania Hamida Nefsi in 5:02.58 and Egypt’s Rowaida Hesham in 5:05.51.
In the 200m freestyle, Myles Brown proved too quick for the opposition, winning the race in 1:50.93 ahead of Egypt’s Marwan Elamrawy in 1:51.60 and our own Calvyn Justus in 1:51.92.
Algeria’s Amel Melih dominated the ladies 100m freestyle with a gold medal winning time of 58.28 and was closely followed by SA’s Gabi Grobler and Samantha Labuschagne who finished with the silver and bronze in 58.54 and 59.38, respectively.
Melih also booked the silver medal in the 50m backstroke in 31.08 behind Seychelles’ Alexus Laird in 30.68 and ahead of Egypt’s Ingy Abouzaid in 31.72.
Egypt grabbed their first gold medal of the competition in the 50m backstroke as Mohamed Samy topped the medal podium in 26.62, while SA’s Jacques van Wyk claimed the silver in 27.12 and Morocco’s Driss Lahrichi the bronze in 27.59.
The women’s 4 x 200m freestyle relay promised to be an exciting final and the race lived up to the expectations as Nathania van Niekerk, Caitlin Kat, Jessica Whelan and Rebecca Meder scooped the gold in 8:39.00, with Algeria and Egypt completing the remaining medal placings in 8:56.87 and 9:06.63, respectively.
The day 02 heats will start at 10h00, while the finals will begin at 16h00 daily.
Medal rankings (after day 01):
|
Country |
Gold |
Silver |
Bronze |
Total |
|
South Africa |
4 |
3 |
2 |
9 |
|
Algeria |
1 |
3 |
0 |
4 |
|
Egypt |
1 |
2 |
3 |
6 |
|
Seychelles |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
Morocco |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
For photos from the XII CANA African Swimming Championships, please visit - http://www.superimage.co.za/detail.aspx?i=1640
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.