If ever Cameron van der Burgh wanted to know what it will take to defend his Olympic 100m breaststroke title in Rio, it was spelled out in bold letters to him on Saturday night – Adam Peaty.
The 21-year-old British sensation Peaty followed up his new world record swim in the afternoon heats with another blisteringly quick time in the semi-final to defeat 2012 London Olympic champion Van der Burgh at the Rio Aquatic Centre early on Sunday morning SA time.
Peaty again went under his old world record time in the semi-finals when he claimed victory in 57.62, having set a new mark of 57.55 in the heats already. His previous best of 57.92 came in April last year at the British championships in London, when he broke Van der Burgh’s world record of 58.46.
The 28-year-old South African star is one of the few genuine gold medal contenders for Team SA in Rio, but after Peaty’s superb display on day one in the pool, he will take some stopping during the final, which takes place on Sunday night in Rio (3.53am SA time on Monday).
Peaty is the only swimmer to have broken through the sub-58-second mark, and if Van der Burgh hopes to defend his title, he will have to become the second man to do so to have any chance of claiming gold.
Van der Burgh came third in his semi-final in 59.21, behind Peaty and American Cody Miller (59.05), but all three were quicker than the winner of the first semi-final, Japan’s Yasuhiro Koseki (59.23), which suggests it could be a straight shoot-out between Peaty, Miller and Van der Burgh for the medals.
There was another world record set in the pool on Sunday evening in Rio, with Katinka Hosszu of Hungary winning the women’s 400m individual medley in 4:26.36, breaking the 4:28.23 mark set by China’s Ye Shiwen at the 2012 London Olympics.
Sunday’s action in the pool will see another South African gold medallist from 2012 make his first appearance, with Chad le Clos taking part in the 200m freestyle heats (6.19pm SA time).
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