2015 SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
- LC Meters selection meet for 2015 World Championships
- Monday, April 13th – Saturday, April 18th
- King’s Park Centre, Durban
- Live meet results available here.
Myles Brown kicked off tonight’s finals in Durban with another statement swim, throwing down a blistering 7:53.97 to win the men’s 800m freestyle, in record-breaking fashion. Brown’s time tonight surpassed the previous South African record of 7:54.99 set by Troyden Prinsloo back in 2009, adding this event to his 400m record he collected earlier in the meet, as well as the 200m freestyle victory in his upset of Chad Le Clos.
In the first event on the women’s side tonight, 19-year-old Tara Nicholas scored the win in the 50m breaststroke. Nicholas’ time of 32.04 was just 3/100 slower than her semis, but enough to hold off a charging 17-year-old Tatjana Schoenmaker, who settled for second place in 32.45. Franko Jonker rounded out the top three in 32.55.
Cameron van der Burgh cranked out the 5th-fastest time in the world to win the men’s 50m breaststroke event. Van der Burgh’s time of 27.20 was a half second faster than the rest of the field and gave the 26-year-old his second win of the meet. In this sprint event, he now owns the 3rd, 5th and 6th-fastest times on the world rankings.
The women’s 200m freestyle winner was Northern Tigers Swimming’s Karin Prinsloo, who touched the wall in 2:00.30 to give her another win to add to her collection. Prinsloo won the 400m freestyle earlier in the meet and was also a part of her team’s winning 4 x 100 medley relay.
Chad Le Clos laid low for the opening rounds of the men’s 200m butterfly, finishing 7th overall in the prelims, then creeping up to 2nd place after the semi-finals. It was all part of his master plan, however, as Le Clos dominated the final race in a winning time of 1:56.13 to register as the 10th-fastest time this year and surpass the Kazan qualifying tie of 1:57.32. Sebastien Rousseau was the top guy out of both prelims and finals before finally succumbed to the Olympic gold medalist, but not before he clocked a swift time of his own, 1:57.20 to wind up second. Rousseau had already cleared the Kazan cut by clocking a 1:56.40 in semis. Michael Meyer was the only other swimmer to dip beneath the 2:00 threshold in tonight’s final, earning 3rd place in a time of 1:59.52.
The Northern Tigers club was able to pin down the top prize in the mixed 4 x 100 medley relay, winning the event in a time of 3:59.00.
SEMI-FINALS
- Men’s 100 free – After earning the 1st and 2nd seeds, respectively, Chad Le Clos and Roland Schoeman opted not to swim the semis of the 100 free. This opened the door for the likes of Clayton Jimmie from KwaZulu Natal to take over as top seed from today’s semis, earning a 50.81 for his efforts. Jimmie surged from 10th place after prelims to touch out tonight’s 800m freestyle winner, Myles Brown, who now holds the 2nd seed in this event in a time of 50.86.
- Special note in this event: In the second to last heat, swimmer Ryan Coetzee committed a false start, but it was not declared until everyone had raced, including Keith Shankland, who was left standing on the blocks before diving in and earning a time of 53, quite far back in the pack. However, post-prelims, SwimSwam understands that Shankland then time-trialed the 100 free, which resulted in his being included in the semi-finals – quite outside the typical protocol for qualifying for semi-finals.
- Men’s 50 back – 31-year-old Gerhard Zandberg was able to squeak into the world’s top 10 with his semis-winning time of 25.38, followed by Ricky Ellis’ 26.03 for the 2nd seeded spot. Zandberg’s time narrowly slipped under the FINA Worlds A cut time of 25.52. USA’s Michael Andrew’s time of 26.09 positions him in 3rd headed into finals.
- Women’s 200 butterfly – Rene Warnes won the semis commandingly with her time of 2:14.69. The next competitor finished over 6 seconds later, so look for Warnes to crush another field-dominating time in the finals.
- Women’s 200 backstroke – 200 freestyle winner Karin Prinsloo emerged as the top seed out of 200 back semis, earning a speedy 2:16.76 for her efforts. Central Gauteng Aquatics’ Nathania Van Niekerk is hot on her heels, however, clocking a time of 2:17.28, just about a half second behind.
- Men’s 200 IM – Le Clos doubled up and registered the top seed in this event after winning the 200 fly. Le Clos’ time of 2:00.35 in his 200 IM makes it into the world’s top 25, but look for Le Clos to unleash something in the sub-2:00 range when the title and a chance to swim this event at Kazan is on the line.
Really? Then why did he swim so well during the short course season and not now?
JT, you are right to ask the question. He normally does not shave or taper for the nationals/trials as he can make the qualifying times without doing so. Last year he did the same thing, but under performed at the championship meet(CWG) after illness struck. He recovered after that and all of his good performances were in the short course format, with a slightly lighter workload. This year it is important that he nails a few good performances in Kazan, because three years without an improvement in the 200 fly for example, is no way to approach Rio. The depth of competition has improved, and he needs to respond in LCM.
New PB from Michael Andrew , 50m back time was a 26.27 , he went a 26.09 in the semis.
Is Michael Andrew swimming anything other than 50’s and a 100m breast at this meet? He’s been over there for a while so it’s hard to gauge where he’s at. He used to swim in meet multiple times per month.
He’s also swum a 100 back, 100 free, and 200 IM so far. His times haven’t been that great in these events.
Is he rested? Those aren’t very impressive times for Le Clos.