Johannesburg – The small SA swim team scooped three gold and one silver medal on the first day of the Fina/airweave Swimming World Cup in Chartres, in France, on Saturday.
The overall winner of last year’s Swimming World Cup, Chad le Clos was a double winner on the night, bringing home the gold in the 50 and 200-metre butterfly events.
Looking to defend his title, Le Clos started the evening finals with an Olympic A Qualification time of 1 minute 54.18 seconds in the 200m butterfly and ended on a high note by also winning the 50m butterfly in 23.23. In the 100m freestyle morning heats, the Durbanite had finished 10th in 49.83.
Cameron van der Burgh, currently the top overall ranked swimmer following the Moscow leg, claimed the 50m gold with a time of 26.74. American Brendan Mchugh was second in 27.61 and France’s David Prono Fernandez third in 27.76.
Adding a silver medal to the SA tally was Myles Brown in the 400m freestyle, clocking 3:50.67. Brown led up to the 300m mark but was overtaken by the Czech Republic’s Jan Micka, who ultimately won the race in a close 3:50.54. The bronze went to Austria’s David Brandl in 3:51.15.
The final day on Sunday will feature Van der Burgh in the 100m breaststroke, while Chad Le Clos takes on the 100m butterfly alongside his brother Jordan le Clos, who will also swim the 200m individual medley. Brown will race the 200m freestyle.
– sascoc.co.za