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News Archive - April 2010

16 April 2010

EP Open Water Swimmers dominate at SA Nationals

The most successful open water season ever in Eastern Province came to a successful conclusion at Senior Nationals with the Province winning no less than 12 medals. We also finished second overall to Central Gauteng and our men swimmers won their division and the ladies came second.

The following swimmers medaled at SA Champs:

Mickey Falco	Gold	3km
Jamie-Lee Schlemmer	Gold	3km
JC van Wyk	Gold	3km
Rebecca Newman	Silver	3km
Chrislie Niehaus	Silver	3km
Brenton Williams	Silver	3km
Michael Marais	Bronze	10km
Jessica Roux	Bronze	10km
Wayne Jones	Bronze	3km
Chane de Jager	Bronze	3km
Tammy Geyer	Bronze	3km
Christopher van de Sande	Bronze	3km

The results are a phenomenal improvement on 2009 when EP had just 2 swimmers at SA Champs. The growth in the sport and the successes achieved can be directly attributed to the well run EP Open Water Swim Series and the Ocean Racing Series which has ensures that EP is now on the forefront of open water swimming in South Africa.

A winter series is now being planned for Marina Martinique and the traditional Marina Mile will be developed into an Open Water Swim Festival and will include a 25K swim after this need was made known at SA Champs.

Jeffreys Bay and Port Elizabeth are now recognized as the leading open water swim venues in South Africa and we have to build on this acknowledgement and grow the sport. The positive spin offs for the province in terms of tourism and the opportunities for our athletes are enormous and our swimmers and officials can be congratulated on a job well done!

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14 April 2010

A lot of hype on the second day of the Telkom SA National Aquatics Championships

There was lots of hype on day two of the Telkom SA National Aquatics Championships as first Natalie Du Toit sets a new World Record in the 50m Butterfly S9 Category, then Roland Schoeman became the second swimmer to set an A qualifying time for the Commonwealth Games, followed by Cameron van der Burgh and Jean Basson.

Du Toit, who has already won the 10km and 5km Open Water titles, was in sublime form in the 50m Butterfly touching the wall in 31.98sec, well inside the previous World Record of 32.56sec set by Annabelle Williams of Australia on 4 July 2008 in Sydney. “I really did not expect this record. It’s been a busy time for me with the Disabled Games in March, the Open Water Swim on the weekend and today the 50m Butterfly and 1500m Freestyle (Du Toit successfully defended her title) and I have changed my coach to Dean Price at the end of last year; so I did not expect that at all. But I also want to qualify for the Commonwealth Games, so I am really happy.”

Schoeman gave indication that swimsuit or no swimsuit, he was in awesome form and gunning for a place on the Commonwealth team. In the morning heats of the 50m Butterfly, Schoeman clocked 23.96sec and looked very comfortable. In the semi-finals, he was imperious. Schoeman finished in 23.58sec after his trademark good start, which was well inside the Commonwealth Games qualification mark of 23.73sec. And the final is yet to come.

In the morning session of the 100m Breaststroke for men, Cameron van der Burgh was clearly out of sorts. “I have been doing a lot of different training to adapt to the swim without the suit and that has included trimming down to have less drag in the water.” Van der Burgh was comfortably beaten by Ashley Oliver in the heats.

The semi-final though was another story entirely. As soon as Van der Burgh left the blocks he was in control. When he touched the wall after the 100m he had a 2 second advantage over Neil Versfeld and was well within the qualification time of 1:01.57. “I am relieved, the pressure is off and this was only the semi-final. Now I can just relax for the final.” Van der Burgh will also be tackling the 200m Breaststroke seriously for the first time. “If I can just lower my personal best, I will be happy.” Van der Burgh won the 100m Breaststroke in 1:00.96.

To conclude the second night on a high note, Jean Basson ended with an A qualifying time of 1:48.48 in the 200m freestyle race.

For Full Results from Day 02 of the Telkom SA National Aquatics Championships, please visit  http://ssa.sportza.co.za

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13 April 2010

Le Clos shines on day one in Durban

National record-breaking took a back seat at Monday night's opening night of finals at the SA Senior National Championships and 2010 Commonwealth Games Trials being staged at Durban's King's Park Aquatic Centre.

The main focus of the top swimmers was on making qualifying times to be considered for the 2010 Games in New Delhi in October.

With these times being out of reach for most, it was all the more satisfying for Chad le Clos (KZN) who powered his way past title-holder, Sebastian Rousseau over the last 50 metres to win the men's 200m butterfly in 1:56.86.

This was 0.81 faster than the qualifying time for the Games and equalled Le Clos' lifetime best for the event set last year when wearing the now banned "fast suits". "You can't possibly know how I feel at this moment," said the 18-year-old Westville Boys High learner.

"There is so much pressure on us to reproduce times we set previously with the new suits." He said he had set out to just race against Rousseau and beat him, something he had never been able to achieve before. "I didn't expect to beat him at all," said Le Clos.

It was the perfect birthday present to himself for he turned 18 on Monday and it also the first time he has won a senior national title.

Mark Randall (Border) also put up an outstanding performance when beating event title holder Jean Basson in the 400m freestyle final.

The 24-year-old Alabama U student was content to be up with the pace-setters Riaan Schoeman and Basson for three-quarters of the race and made his move over the last 100m to win in 3:49.97, only one-hundredth of a second outside the Commonwealth Games qualifying time (3:49.96). Basson touched in 3:51.01 for second place and Schoeman in 3:51.86 for third.

It is two years since Randall has swum in his home country after taking some time out to refocus his future. "I've still got the 1 500m free to swim," he said, "and it's the distance I prefer so, make no mistake, I will be aiming for a qualifying time when it comes around."

Defending title-holder, Leone Vorster, was disappointed with her winning time of 1:59.68 in the women's 200m freestyle final, saying she had hoped to go faster but that she had not been pushed by the other swimmers.

She finished almost two seconds ahead of fast-finishing Wendy Trott (WP; 2:01.39) who pipped Greek swimmer, Eleni Kosti (2:01.55), for second place.

"I had no idea where I was (in relation to the other swimmers) just when I needed to know," said the 22-year-old marketing student from Polokwane who has spent the past three years studying for a marketing degree at the University of Arizona.

Vorster is the national record holder (1:58.78) for this event, a time she set last year, and has been consistently achieving good times ever since and probably should be given a chance to compete at the Commonwealth Games having just missed qualifying for last year's World Championships as well.

Veteran butterfly specialist, Mandy Loots (CG), showed at 31 years she can still hold her own as she claimed victory in the 200m individual medley, leaving Jessica Pengelly (WP, 18) and Bianca Meyer (KZN, 20) in her wake.

Loots' winning time of 2:17.75 was two-and-a-half seconds outside the CG qualifying time with Pengelly second in 2:18.04 and Meyer quite satisfied to come third in 2:18.49.

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10 April 2010

Ho and Du Toit triumph in 10km Open Water Swim

There were not surprises or upsets at the Telkom SA National Open Water 10km swim today (Saturday 10 April) at the Midmar Dam as Chad Ho and Natalie Du Toit added the 2010 10km National Title to their names.

Chad Ho has rapidly developed into a world class swimmer. He has built up experience at various FINA Open Water events as well as qualifying and competing in the 2008 Olympic Games. The big breakthrough came though when he won a bronze medal at the FINA OWS World Championships in the 5km event in 2009, just 15 seconds behind the leaders.

In today’s SA 10km Open Water Swim, Ho was in a class of his own as he needed just over 2 hours (2:03;20) to cover the distance. Ho took the lead within the first kilometer of the 5x2km lap course and was never challenged to win ahead of Tyron Venter (CGA) and Michael Marais (EPA).

No surprises either in the ladies 10km swim where the race followed a similar pattern to the men’s race, as Natalie Du Toit also took the lead on the first lap. Du Toit showed just why she has multiple world records behind her name in the Paralympics. Du Toit clocked 2:14;08 to the 2:21;11 of Nicole Brits and 2:26;03 of Jessica Roux.

The SA National Open Water Championships are the selection race for the OWS World Championships in Roberval, Canada. 15th – 23rd July 2010. As per FINA Rules, only two athletes from each country may enter in the 10km and 5km races. Both Ho and Du Toit will be looking to adding these titles to their names tomorrow and further enhance their claims for inclusion in the team to Roberval.

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08 April 2010

Western Province strike first blow on the first day of the Telkom SA National Water Polo Championships

Day 1 of the Telkom SA National Water Polo Championships saw some ferocious action at the Kings Park Aquatic Centre in Durban on Thursday, 8 April. But it wasn’t the defending champions, CGA OJ Eagles who ended top of the log in Pool A, rather it was the Western Province team.

CGA OJ Eagles entered the championships as favorites to yet again defend their title, but soon realized that the Western Province contingent meant serious business. The Eagles opened their title defense with a 17-6 thrashing of Border and must have felt confident to end the day one on top of the log as WP could only manage a 7-1 victory over KZN.

But that confidence would have been severely dented as Western Province then went on to hammer Central Gauteng A by 16 goals to 1, to soar to the top of the standings. The Eagles on the other hand had a much tougher second match against CGA Old Edwardians, beating them by only two goals; the final score 10-8 in the defending champions favor.

That left WP on top of Pool A at the end of day one. Both teams have maximum points after playing two matches (4), but the goal difference is telling. WP conceding only 2 goals and slamming home a whopping 23, whereas the Eagles may have scored more (27 goals) but have also conceded more goals (13). In Pool B, WP B were also top the log. They are the only team to have won both their matches with thrashings of their C team (12-5) and then putting 15 goals past Northern Tigers, who were only capable of responding with 5.

In the ladies section, Western Province B sit on top of the log in Pool A with maximum points after winning all three matches today. They opened their account with a 25-1 drubbing of Northern Tigers, followed by a 11-2 win over their counter parts WP C and ended the day with a 13-1 thrashing of Border B. In the ladies Pool B, Western Province A came out tops after winning their two games with Border A close second on the same points  but at the end of the day, it came down to goal difference as they conceded 22 goals to Western Province A’s 8 goals.

Much has been said about the parking area around the Kings Park Swimming Pool due to the construction going on for the 2010 FINA World Cup, but Swimming CEO, Shaun Adriaanse was quick to express their gratitude for the support of the eThekwini Municipality, “They have gone to great lengths to accommodate the hosting of these Championships at the Kings Park Aquatics Centre as the venue is currently being upgraded as the accreditation office for the 2010 FIFA World Cup”.

The action continues tomorrow as the second day of Water Polo kicks off at 08h00.

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