Johannesburg – Cameron van der Burgh had to settle for second in the final of the 100 metre breaststroke at the Fina World Championships in Kazan, Russia on Monday.
Adam Peaty of Britain touched fractionally ahead of Van der Burgh to take gold in 58.52 seconds. Van der Burgh, behind by seven hundredths of a second, touched the wall in 58.59.
Van der Burgh had a perfect start to take the early lead and was the first to turn after 50 metres. It seemed as if the Tuks/HPC swimmer started to tire over the last 10 metres, allowing Peaty to catch up with him and finish ahead of the South African.
His victory in the 100m breaststroke gave Peaty his first long course World Championships medal.
It was Van der Burgh’s ninth medal. He has already won 2 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze medals.
Van der Burgh and Peaty will resume their rivalry in the 50 metre breaststroke final on Wednesday.
Van der Burgh was still left in an optimistic mood despite missing out on the gold by such a narrow margin.
“A performance like Peaty’s is what keeps me motivated,” said Van der Burgh.
“I see it as a challenge to up my own game. It suits me that he is now the ‘Top Dog’ who everybody will be striving to beat.”
Van der Burgh’s medal was the first for Team SA in the pool, but it was the second overall after Chad Ho won the gold medal in the 5km open water swim.
Chad le Clos qualified for Tuesday’s 200m freestyle final by finishing third in his semi-final in a time of 1:46.10. The South African led for the first 100 metres. Britain James Guy won in 1:45.43.
Myles Brown failed to qualify for the final after finishing sixth in his semi-final. His time was 1:46.85.
ANA