Day 2 of the 2015 All Africa Games brought more South African domination in the pool events. The country followed up its first day of multiple golds with another session of stellar performances, claiming 6 wins out of the 8 events on the day.
Meet Preview
Day 1 Recap
Meet Results
South African speedster Chad Le Clos raced his way to the top of the podium with an easy victory in the men’s 100m butterfly today. His time of 51.24 marks a new championship record and ranks as 6th-fastest in the world, although the 2012 Olympic champion already owns the 2nd-fastest clocking of 2015 with his 50.56, which earned this year’s World Championships title in Kazan.
The women’s 200m freestyle event also saw a South African touch the wall first, as Karin Prinsloo registered a 2:00.14 for the victory and second gold medal of the night for the country. Marlies Ross, also from South Africa, was the runner-up finisher in event, claiming silver in a time of 2:02.61 to make it a 1-2 finish.
Cameron Van der Burgh did his thing in the men’s 50m breaststroke to double up on his 100m win from yesterday. His 50m time of 27.18, a new championship record, was enough to beat out the entire field by almost a full second, with Egypt’s Yossif Elkamash settling for silver in a time of 28.10 for his efforts.
One of two non-South African golds went to Egypt’s Farida Osman, who clocked a time of 26.31 in the 50m butterfly for the win. She and 2nd place finisher Vanessa Mohr (RSA) were the only two sub-27 second swimmers of the field today.
Egypt got on the board again in the men’s 800m freestyle, with Ahmed Akram taking the win in a time of 7:55.36. Teammate Marwan Elkamash made it a 1-2 finish, clinching the silver with his mark of 7:59.54. Myles Brown (RSA) who won yesterday’s 200m freestyle, finished just .03 behind Elkamash to nab bronze in 7:59.57.
Additional Winners:
- South African Ayrton Sweeney earned the win in the men’s 400m IM, topping the podium in 4:21.83.
- Tajana Shoenmaker and Kelly Gunnell made it another South African 1-2 finish in the women’s 200m breaststroke, with times of 2:28.84 and 2:31.52, respectively.
- The South African mixed 400m freestyle relay was victorious, winning the event in a collective time of 3:31.56.
Competition continues tomorrow at 10am local.
Chad Le Clos is been consistently fast for a while now. I think he’s been sub- 51.5 three or four times since Kazan now. Very impressive. These days Le Clos looks better at the 100 fly than the 200, and I think Michael Phelps should be wary of his opposition successively dropping impressive times.
Chad is cruising low 51’s. Unfortunately he will need an additional time drop next year because low 51’s will get you into the final but no further. Time to add a little muscle to the frame and press for a 50 dead. Hopefully that will not kill his back end on his 200m fly.
I expect some fast swimming for le clos, as a 51.24 is a really good time.