The medals continued to pour in as the South African team dominated the XII CANA African Swimming Championships, winning a medal in every race on day two in Bloemfontein on Monday.
Fifteen more medals were added to the SA tally (seven gold, five silver and three bronze) during the second day of competition at the Stadium Swimming Pool.
That took them to a total of 24 for the championships.
Cameron van der Burgh did not disappoint the Free State crowd, winning the 50-metre breaststroke in a new Championship Record time of 28.05 seconds, breaking the 2008 record of 28.38, held by Senegal’s Malick Fall.
SA’s Michael Houlie scooped the silver in 28.63 and Egypt’s Ahmed Shamlool the bronze in 28.92.
Olympian Chad le Clos sprinted to a thrilling finish in the 100m butterfly, clocking a golden 52.69, and just missing the Championship record of 52.49, while Egypt’s Mohamed Samy and SA’s Alard Basson were close behind in 54.91 and 55.05 respectively.
Caitlin Kat and Rebecca Meder were the gold and silver duo in the 200m freestyle, finishing the final in 2:06.06 and 2:06.17, with Algeria’s Souad Nefissa Cheroua claiming the bronze in 2:07.51.
In the 400m individual medley, Mzansi’s elite took both the gold and bronze medals with Ayrton Sweeney finishing first in 4:27.80 and Neil Fair third in 4:31.41, while Egypt’s Ahmed Hamdy walked away with the silver in 4:30.22.
Up-and-coming swim stars Kaylene Corbett (17) and Hanim Abrahams (14) bagged the gold and silver in the 200m breaststroke in 2:33.09 and 2:36.57 respectively, while Egypt’s Rowaida Hesham took the bronze in 2:41.71.
Nathania van Niekerk in the 50m Fly final on Monday
The phenomenal performances continued as Nathania van Niekerk and Lesley Blignaut came first and second in the 50m butterfly in 28.15 and 29.23, respectively, with Egypt’s Mariam Sakr third in 29.42.
The 800m freestyle title went to Egypt’s Marwan Elamrawy in 8:13.07, with SA’s Brent Szurdoki a close second in 8:14.75 and Josh Dannhauser third in 8:18.57
The final race of the evening saw Calvyn Justus, Gabi Grobler, Samantha Labuschagne and Myles Brown take the gold medal in the 4x100m freestyle mixed relay in 3:37.02, ahead of Egypt in 3:43.01 and Algeria in 3:43.32.
The day three heats start at 10am, while the finals will begin at 4pm daily.
South Africa will start day three comfortably on top of the medals table with their 24 medals 11 better than second-placed Egypt.
Pictures of Van der Burgh and Van Niekerk courtesy of Gerhard Steenkamp/Superimage Media
