Rebecca Meder (pictured) was again the standout swimmer from a South African perspective on day two of the 2024 World Aquatics Swimming Championships, in Budapest on Wednesday.
On the opening day Meder had set two South African records and one African record in the women’s 200m individual medley and on Wednesday she swam twice in the 100m breaststroke, earning her spot in Thursday’s final as the seventh fastest qualifier.
All of Meder, Lara van Niekerk, Caitlin de Lange, Chris Smith, Ruard van Renen and the mixed 4x50m medley team were in action on Wednesday.
Van Niekerk, De Lange and Van Renen missed out on a place in the evening session, Van Renen competed in the men’s 100m backstroke final where he finished eighth, while the Team SA mixed 4x50m medley relay quartet broke the African record.
In the last such championships held, in Melbourne in 2022, South Africa returned with five medals, three of which were gold. The gold medals were won by Chad le Clos (100m and 200m butterfly) and Matt Sates (200m individual medley), while Van Niekerk claimed silver in the women’s 50m breaststroke and Sates added to his tally with silver in the 400m IM.
Notable absentees from these short-course (25m pool) championships are men’s backstroker Pieter Coetze, who is focused on training for next year’s long-course (50m pool) world championships in Singapore and Kaylene Corbett, while Tatjana Smith has retired.
DAY 2 RESULTS
Men’s 100m freestyle (heats): Ruard van Renen finished 10th in his heat in 49.43, which placed him 56th on the overall timesheets and missing a place in the semi-finals
Men’s 100m breaststroke (heats): Chris Smith finished 6th in his heat in 57.38 and qualified for the semi-finals in 16th position
Men’s 100m breaststroke (semi-finals): Chris Smith finished 7th in the opening semi-final in 57.11, which placed him 14th overall and missing out on a spot in the final
Men’s 100m backstroke (final): Ruard van Renen finished 8th in 39.61 with gold going to Miron Lifintsev in 48.76, a new world junior record
Women’s 100m freestyle (heats): Caitlin de Lange finished 4th in her heat in 53.91. That placed her 32nd overall and she missed out on progressing to the semi-finals
Women’s 100m breaststroke (heats): Lara van Niekerk finished 3rd in her heat in 1:05.57, which placed her 22nd overall and missing out on a spot in the semi-finals
Women’s 100m breaststroke (heats): Rebecca Meder finished 2nd in her heat in 1:04.57, which placed her 8th fastest heading into the semi-finals
Women’s 100m breaststroke (semi-finals): Rebecca Meder finished 3rd in the opening semi-final in 1:04.04 and qualified 7th fastest for the final
Mixed 4x50m medley (heats): AFRICA RECORD! Team SA finished 5th in their heat but the quarter of Jessica Thompson, Michael Houlie, Caitlin de Lange and Kris Mihaylov established a new African record of 1:41.32
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