2020 SOUTH AFRICAN SC CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Saturday, October 24th – Tuesday, October 27th
- Seal Swim Centre, Pietermaritzburg, SA
- SCM (25m)
- SwimSwam Preview
- Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap
- Results
After Tatjana Schoenmaker‘s double national records here on night 3 of the 2020 South African Short Course Championships, there were still plenty of solid swims in Pietermaritzburg both on the men’s and women’s sides.
21-year-old Seagulls swimmer Erin Gallagher made some magic happen in the women’s 100m free, clocking the only sub-54 second time of the field. Splitting 25.60/28.30, Gallagher scored a time of 53.90, a mark well off her own national record of 52.70, but enough to get the job done tonight.
Additionally, Gallagher took on the 50m fly where she scored a time of 26.60 to come out on top.
University of Georgia commit Matt Sates was a force to be reckoned with across the 100m free, 100m IM and 50m fly events this evening. The 17-year-old ripped new personal bests across all en route to tipping the podium for a 3-gold haul.
In the 100 free, Sates split 23.35/24.98 to earn a time of 48.33, his first-ever outing under 49 seconds. Then, in the 100m IM, he became South Africa’s 6th fastest performer all-time with a winning effort of 52.87. Finally, in the 50m fly, he entered the all-time South African performers’ list in slot #10 with a gold medal-worthy swim of 23.55.
Additional winners included Aimee Canny who produced a winning 100m IM time of 1:00.31 to fall just .01 shy of Tayla Lovemore’s national record. Dune Coetzee proved too quick for the women’s 200m fly field, with the teen taking the victory in 2:13.99. The men’s side saw Ross Hartigan produce a winning mark of 1:58.29.
16-year-old Pieter Coetze topped the men’s 100m back field in a time of 52.55 to become his nation’s 6th fastest man ever in the event.