Le Clos, Van Der Burgh, Tandy Book Tickets To SC Worlds

2018 SOUTH AFRICAN SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Thursday, August 9th – Sunday, August 12th
• Kings Park Aquatics Centre, Durban, South Africa
• SCM
• Short Course World Championships Selection Criteria (South Africa)
• Day 1 Recap
• Live Results

After 6 swimmers notched consideration times in their respective events to qualify for the Short Course World Championships, several more South African athletes made the cut with just one day remaining in the South African Nationals selection meet.

Zane Waddell had already notched his mark in the 50m freestyle, but added the 50m back to his line-up here in Durban. Clocking 23.41 in the morning prelims, the former Alabama swimmer was slightly slower in the finals, winning in 23.55. Both marks fall under the 23.98 qualifying time, making him eligible to race the event in China this December.

The men’s 50m butterfly event saw 3 swimmers notch qualifying times, beginning with Olympian Chad Le Clos. Le Clos clocked 22.57 in the day’s prelims to take the top seed, but wound up scratching the event, as well as the remainder of the meet. Taking his place in the final was Ryan Coetzee, who earned gold in 22.99 in a time well under the 23.22 QT.

27-year-old Brad Tandy also made the grade, stopping the clock at 23.12 to earn a QT in the 50m fly. He’ll try to add the 50m free to his list of qualifying events.

After missing qualification in the women’s 800m freestyle by less than a second on night 1, 16-year-old Rebecca Mader bounced back with a qualifying swim in the 200m IM. Stopping the clock in 2:12.71, the teen slid under the 2:12.46 QT to represent the only woman of the field to do so.

19-year-old Erin Gallagher of the Seagulls produced a winning time of 26.07 in the women’s 50m fly, dipping under the 26.26 selection time, while Olympian Cameron van der Burgh notched a QT in the 100m breast in 57.63.

Commonwealth Games gold medalist Tatjana Schoenmaker wowed the crowd with a new South African National Record in the women’s 100m breaststroke. She touched the wall first in 1:05.12, well under the 1:06.18 QT. Her mark also overtook the old record of 1:05.36, a time that’s been on the books since 2008.