DURBAN – After five days of competition, South African’s top athletes have no plans of slowing down as the Commonwealth Games qualification times continue to pour in at the KZN Aquatics Premier Championships in Durban on Wednesday.
Twenty-eight swimmers have already made the Commonwealth Games qualification list and with one more day of action to go, that number is sure to grow.
It was a fight to the finish in the 200m backstroke final, as Martin Binedell claimed his first Commonwealth Games qualification time in 1:59.59, just 0.06secs ahead of Jarryd Baxter, who was more than happy with the silver and his Commonwealth Games qualification time of 1:59.65. Luan Grobbelaar won the bronze in 2:04.35.
In the highly competitive 50m freestyle, fast times were on the cards as the top four in the final swam under the 23.26 Commonwealth Games requirement. Brad Tandy was victorious in 22.33 ahead of Douglas Erasmus in 22.90, Ryan Coetzee in 23.18 and Armand Maritz in 23.25.
In the long distance 1500m freestyle, Brent Szurdoki won his second Commonwealth Games qualification time in 15:30.83, to the 15:44.74 requirement, while the silver went to Luke Erwee in 15:52.69 and the bronze to Chad Michau in 15:52.82.
Dune Coetzee (15) was quick off the block in the 200m butterfly, as she scooped the gold in a Commonwealth Games qualification time of 2:12.52 ahead of Jenna Pearse took the silver in 2:22.05 and Tori Oliver the bronze in 2:22.76,
Erin Gallagher added the 50m backstroke title to her name in 29.16, followed by Olivia Nel in 30.36 and Kiara Noades in 30.97.
There was no stopping Luca Holtzhausen (13), who broke yet another KZN Record, this time in the 200m backstroke in 2:14.87, shedding just under a second from his own 2:15.43 record from earlier in the year, and concluded the evening with a gold in the 50m freestyle in 25.33.
The winners of the remaining 200m backstroke were Enrico Vorbeck (11) in 2:43.50 and Ian Brijlal (14) in 2:14.57, while the gold in the 50m freestyle went to Ricky Lottering (11) in 30.45 and Chad Mayer (15) in 24.60.
In the 50m backstroke age group finals, the top spots were claimed by Kayci Petzer (11) in 36.76, Tatum Silen in 32.64 and Kirsten de Goede in 30.50.
The Commonwealth Games Trials will conclude on Thursday.
The final Commonwealth Games team will be selected and announced by SASCOC in accordance with the SASCOC Selection Policy.