2024 SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS (OLYMPIC TRIALS)
- Monday, April 8th – Saturday, April 13th
- Newton Park Swimming Pool, Gqeberha, South Africa
- LCM (50m)
The 2024 South African National Championships kick off on Monday, April 8th with the competition representing the sole opportunity for swimmers to qualify for this summer’s Olympic Games.
Stars to the tune of Chad Le Clos, Pieter Coetze and Tatjana Schoenmaker are expected to compete at the meet which spans Monday, April 8th – Saturday, April 13th.
31-year-old Le Clos has been training in Frankfurt, Germany under the tutelage of Dirk Lange since September of 2022.
The veteran Olympic champion has raced at several European meets, most recently at the 2024 Luxembourg Euro Meet this past January. There he hit times of 23.64 in the 50m free, 49.34 in the 100m free, 23.62 in the 50m fly, 51.79 100 fly, and 1:58.00 in the 200m fly.
At this year’s World Championships in Doha, Le Clos placed 5th in the 100m fly, posting a time of 51.48. He dropped out of the 200m fly.
On his return to South Africa for this week’s championships, Le Clos stated, “It’s been a little bit hard being away for so long. So it’s good for me to be at home, to get my head back in the game, have some sunshine, eat my dad’s food and be around the family.”
“Everything is good. I’ve had a massive block of training, especially since the world champs so I might be a little bit overcooked in the sense of training but I’m ready for next week. I think it’s going to be good.
He continued, “I’m not expecting to set the world alight… But it would be good to defend those titles and see what happens and go from there.”
Le Clos is entered in the 100m/200m fly and 100m free events.
Young gun Pieter Coetze is another one to watch next week as the action unfolds.
19-year-old Coetze is vying for his 2nd Olympic team after having made the Tokyo squad at just 16 years of age.
“I’m feeling very good heading into trials. I’ve been doing some good training and it’s been tough but it’s always good to be positive so I’m looking forward to racing again,” Coetze said.
“I’ve got some good memories in the PE pool, so I’m feeling confident. I wouldn’t really say I’m hoping for anything but I’d like to put up some good performances and boost my confidence heading towards Paris.”
Quotes courtesy of the South African Swimming Association.
is there a live stream where we can watch the meet?
well it depends on what swimming south africa does. they have already prevented the artistic swimming duet from qualifying in doha and prevented polo from paris even though they had qualified. i wouldnt put it past them to cock up swimming qualifying as well.
ssa are talking 12 medals in Paris… well any medal is a miracle given the federations total disregard for athlete well fare.
Y’all not ready for Le Clos 17.0 😎
Is Matt Sates not trying to qualify?
He is listed on the psych sheets.
Paging Michael Andrew. Your flight to Johannesburg departs in twenty minutes.
Maybe it’s finally time for the long awaited breakout for Sates and Coetze
Coetze is a 52 and 1:55 in the backstrokes, I think that’s already broken out
You know what mean… he’s talked about the WRs in both events
Don’t sleep on Guy Brooks😳
is Aimee Canny of UVA entered?