Johannesburg – South African swimmers produced stellar performances at the last leg of the Mare Nostrom Series in Canet, France over the weekend.
The usual suspects claimed podium finishes with London Olympic gold medallists Chad le Clos, Cameron van der Burgh and Roland Schoeman leading the charge.
Le Clos wrapped up the gala with two gold medals winning the 100m and 200m butterfly events.
On Sunday he launched himself up the world rankings in the 200m event, clocking a time of one minute, 55.40 seconds for the second fastest time this season.
Hungary’s Bence Bizco finished behind him in 1:56.66, while Daiya Seto of Japan finished third in 1:56.73.
On Saturday, Le Clos swam the best time of the season in the men’s 100m butterfly in 51.64 seconds, with Biczo grabbing silver in 53.55sec.
France’s Romain Sassot clocked 54.23sec to claim the bronze medal.
Van der Burgh added the 100m breaststroke gold medal on Sunday to the bronze he had won in the 50m event on Saturday.
He coasted to victory in his Olympic-winning event in a time of 1:00.41, with Felipe Lima of Brazil touching behind him in 1:00.82.
New Zealand's Glenn Snyders, who placed second in the 50m breaststroke, had to be content with bronze in the 100m event, posting a time of 1:01.45.
Schoeman continued his domination in the men’s 50m butterfly event on Sunday with a winning time of 23.32sec.
Sassot finished second in 24.03sec and Riku Poytakivi of Finland was third in 24.25.
On the first day of the gala, Schoeman won the silver medal in the 50m freestyle event in 22.29sec, finishing behind Japan’s Shinri Shioura, who clocked a time of 22.22sec. Cuba’s Hanser Garcia completed the podium positions with a 22.38sec race.
Gerhard Zandberg added a gold medal to South Africa’s tally in the men’s 50m backstroke.
He won the race in a time of 25.22sec ahead of Israel's Jonatan Kopelev in second place with 25.53sec and Aschwin Wildeboer of Spain in third in 25.59sec.
South Africa’s up-and-coming duo of Myles Brown and Michael Meyer also made their mark.
Brown captured two bronze medals in the men’s 400m and 200m freestyle events.
He was beaten to the wall by Matias Koski of Finland with a time of 3:50.70 and Ukraine’s Sergiy Frolov in 3:50.83. Brown clocked a time of 3:51.33 for the bronze medal.
In the 200m event, he posted a time of 1:49.71 for third place, with Japan's Yuki Kobori touching first in 1:47.81, and Germany's Yannick Lebherz placing second in 1:49.70.
Meyer finished second in the men’s 200m individual medley in 2:02.18 behind Gal Nevo of Israel, who clocked 2:02.03. Canada’s Evan White finished third in 2:02.56. – Sapa