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Lara van Niekerk claims Golden Hat-trick

Adnaan MohamedNews, SwimmingLeave a Comment on Lara van Niekerk claims Golden Hat-trick

Adnaan Mohamed

Lara van Niekerk completed a golden hat-trick at the Bombela Concession Company SA National (25m) Championships on Sunday, powering through the 200m breaststroke like a swimmer rediscovering her tide.

The 22-year-old, already decorated with Commonwealth and World medals, clocked 2:24.81 to sweep the 50m, 100m, and 200m titles. It was a clean breaststroke sweep that signalled her resurgence.

“I enjoy the short-course 200 because it’s all about pull downs and you can keep your speed, so I really enjoyed that race … don’t tell my coach,” she laughed afterwards.

“The last 50 I had to dig deep, but it shows my fitness is back where it should be. Now it’s just sharpening the little technical things.”

Van Niekerk admitted the championships had been a confidence-restoring current:

“There’s not one race I’m upset about… fitness is there, stroke is where it should be. It’s looking good.”

On the men’s side, Oliva Lange paddled home with the 200m breaststroke crown in 2:12.11.

Elsewhere, Duné Coetzee added yet another gold to her treasure chest, outlasting rising 16-year-old Abigail Kotze in the women’s 200m butterfly.

Coetzee touched in 2:14.16, a fingertip ahead of Kotze’s 2:14.85.

“I felt awful this morning after the late 400 free, so I was nervous,” Coetzee admitted.

“But Abi really pushed me, and I didn’t think I’d go five seconds faster than the heat. Even when she beat me in the 100 fly, I was so proud of her – it’s great to have someone who keeps me racing.”

The men’s butterfly brought the upset of the meet, as Jarden Eaton surged from lane eight to steal gold in 1:59.50, ducking under the two-minute mark for the first time.

Jarden Eaton won gold in the men’s butterfly Photo’s: Swim SA

“I wasn’t expecting that,” he said.

“I just wanted a personal best… but building into that last 50, it all came together. I’m really happy.”

The distance titles capped the meet: Carli Antonopoulos cruised to the women’s 1500m freestyle in 17:01.33, while Matthew Caldwell completed a golden treble of his own, claiming the men’s 1500m in 15:28.11.

“It wasn’t as quick as I’d like, but after a long week of racing, I’ll take the win,” said Caldwell, already sighting next year’s Commonwealth Games like a swimmer eyeing the far wall.

SOURCE: SWIM SA

How Team SA Performed at The Paralympics on Wednesday

Tanika LaskeyFeatures, NewsLeave a Comment on How Team SA Performed at The Paralympics on Wednesday

The Paralympic classification system can be tricky, and that was clear when Mpumelelo Mhlongo broke the world record in the T44 long jump at the Stade de France but still finished in fifth place. Mhlongo, who already held the world record at 7.07m, competed against athletes in the T62 and T64 classes. Mhlongo improved his own record to 7.12m.

On Wednesday, Team South Africa secured two more bronze medals at the 2024 Paralympics. Pieter du Preez, in the men’s H1 individual cycling time trial, and the wheelchair tennis quad doubles team of Donald Ramphadi and Lucas Sithole, both came through in style to bring Team SA’s total medal count to four.

WHEELCHAIR TENNIS
Men’s Quad Doubles – BRONZE MEDAL MATCH
Team SA’s doubles duo, Donald Ramphadi and Lucas Sithole, defeated their Brazilian competitors in three sets (6–2; 4–6; [10]–[8]) to win South Africa’s fourth medal — a bronze — finishing in third position overall.

PARA CYCLING ROAD
Men’s Individual Time Trial – H1 (FINAL)
Team SA’s Pieter du Preez secured South Africa’s third medal — a bronze — after finishing in third position.

PARA SWIMMING
Women’s 100m Freestyle – S12 – Heats
Team SA’s Alani Ferreira finished eighth in her morning heat. Unfortunately, her time was outside of the top eight fastest finishers, which would have qualified her for the final.

Men’s 50m Freestyle – S7 – Heats
Team SA’s Christian Sadie finished seventh in the evening final, setting a new African record. Christian qualified for the final after placing fourth in his morning heat with one of the eight fastest times.

PARA EQUESTRIAN
Individual Event – Grade IV (FINAL)
Team SA’s Philippa Johnson-Dwyer finished the competition in 14th position.

PARA ATHLETICS
Men’s Shot Put – F46 – FINAL
Team SA’s Kerwin Noemdo concluded the competition in fifth position.

Men’s Long Jump – T64 – FINAL
Team SA’s Mpumelelo Mhlongo set a new T44 World Record with a jump of 7.12m, placing him fifth in the T64 competition.

Women’s 100m – T37 – Round 1 Heats
Team SA’s Sheryl James finished third in her heat, earning automatic qualification for the Thursday morning final

How Team SA Performed at The Paralympics on Tuesday

Tanika LaskeyFeatures, NewsLeave a Comment on How Team SA Performed at The Paralympics on Tuesday

There were two African records in the pool but no medals for Team SA on Tuesday at the 2024 Paralympics. They remain on two medals heading into Wednesday, following Mpumelelo Mhlongo’s T44 100m gold and Louzanne Coetzee’s T11 1500m silver. There were three sports represented by Team SA on the day – swimming, athletics and boccia.

PARA SWIMMING
Men’s 100m Backstroke – S7
Team SA’s Christian Sadie finished 5th in the evening final after placing 3rd in his morning heat, recording one of the eight fastest times in the heats.

Women’s 50m Backstroke – S5 – Heats
Team SA’s Kat Swanepoel finished 6th in her morning heat, setting a new African record. Unfortunately, her time was outside the top eight fastest finishers, which would have qualified her for the final.

Men’s 200m Individual Medley – SM13
Team SA’s Nathan Hendricks finished 7th in the evening final, setting a new African record in the process. This was Nathan’s 4th final of the Paralympic Games, having qualified in 4th place in his morning heat with one of the eight fastest times.

PARA ATHLETICS
Women’s 200m – T64
Team SA’s Tezna Abrahams finished 5th in her morning heat, achieving a personal best. However, her position and time were not enough to advance her to the final.

Women’s 400m – T37 – FINAL
Team SA’s Sheryl James and Liezel Gouws finished 4th and 5th, respectively, in the Women’s 400m T37 final, a race in which two of the top three finishers (1st and 3rd place) achieved personal best times to secure their positions.

BOCCIA
Mixed Pairs – BC3 – Preliminary Round – Pool D
Team SA’s Elanza Jordaan and Karabo Morapedi lost 7–0 in their opening pool match against their Brazilian competitors, followed by a 10–0 defeat against the duo from Greece.