A Review Of South African Olympic Qualifiers Through End Of 2024 Trials

2024 SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS (OLYMPIC TRIALS)

• Monday, April 8th – Saturday, April 13th
• Newton Park Swimming Pool, Gqeberha, South Africa
• LCM (50m)
• Swimming South Africa Olympic Selection Policy
• SwimSwam Preview
• Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap/Day 3 Recap/Day 4 Recap/Day 5 Recap/Day 6 Recap
• Results

The 2024 South African Swimming Championships concluded yesterday with the six-day competition representing the nation’s Olympic Trials.

Although we did see several swimmers clock World Aquatics Olympic Qualification Times over the course of the meet, this is not the only opportunity athletes have to be selected for Paris 2024.

Per the Swimming South Africa selection policy linked above, swimmers can still notch ‘A’ cuts at World Aquatics-sanctioned events during the qualification window which spans March 1, 2023 – June 24, 2024.

Here are the key points presented in the qualification document:

• The 1st and 2nd-placed athletes in the final of an Olympic event at Trials will be considered for selection if they achieve an ‘A’ cut.
• Should one or both of the top 2 finals finishers not achieve an ‘A’ cut, then athletes with the fastest ‘A’ times in the heats can be considered.
• If, at the end of the Trials, there are not 2 athletes with ‘A’ cuts for a specific Olympic event, athletes who have achieved the standard during a World Aquatics-sanctioned event during the qualification window may be considered.
  • These times will only be considered, however, if the athlete was a finalist for that event at the Olympic Trials.
  • Additionally, should any athlete swim a faster ‘A’ cut at a sanctioned event other than Trials, he/she will not take precedence over any ‘A’ cut-achieving swimmers from the Trials.

With these stipulations in mind, here is a list of the South African Olympic qualifiers through this publishing.

Qualifiers at 2024 South African National Championships (Olympic Trials)

• Pieter Coetze – Men’s 100m back (52.89), 200m back (1:55.85)
• Tatjana Smith – Women’s 100m breast (1:05.48), 200m breast (2:19.92)
• Kaylene Corbett – Women’s 200m breast (2:23.71)
• Erin Gallagher – Women’s 100m fly (57.32)
• Aimee Canny – Women’s 200m free (1:56.80)

Qualifiers (outside of those above) at World Aquatics-Sanctioned Meets

• Rebecca Meder – Women’s 200m IM (2:10.95, heats of 2023 World Championships)
• Chad Le Clos – Men’s 100m fly (51.48, 2024 World Championships)
• Matt Sates – Men’s 100m fly (51.66, 2023 World Cup Budapest), 200m fly (1:55.25, 2023 World Cup Budapest), 200m IM (1:57.72, 2023 World Cup Budapest)

Of note, Rebecca Meder achieved an ‘A’ cut of 2:10.95 in the 200m IM in the heats of the 2023 World Championships. At the Olympic Trials, however, Meder only raced in the non-Olympic event of the women’s 50m back after still recovering from a ruptured appendix. 

As described above, the Swimming South Africa selection policy states that times outside of Trials will be considered only if the athlete was a finalist for the specific event at Trials. Since Meder did not swim the 200m IM at Trials, a literal interpretation would render her unqualified.

However, most nations have an ‘extenuating circumstances’ clause within their selection policies. Swimming South Africa’s does not explicitly include one but that doesn’t mean Meder can’t potentially be granted a reprieve from the strict policy due to her situation.