The 2024 World Aquatics Swimming Championships sprung into life in Budapest on Tuesday, with South Africa playing its part on the opening day in the short-course 25m pool in the Hungarian capital.
Rebecca Meder (pictured) swam her way into the evening finals when she stopped the clock at 2:06.15 in the women’s 200m individual medley, which made her fourth fastest of all the finalists. In the process the 22-year-old double Olympian broke the South African record. That record only lasted a few hours because she clocked 2:05.61 in the final, where she finished sixth. The gold medal went to the USA’s Kate Douglass in a world record time. of 2:01.63.
Meder’s morning swim had produced a personal best and South African record. In the evening she cemented herself as the fastest ever from Africa in the event.
In the absence of star Pieter Coetze, who is missing these championships to concentrate on training for the long-course (50m) worlds, 21-year-old Ruard van Renen was left to contest the men’s 100m backstroke. He produced a quality swim to finish second in the morning heats in 49.73 and went into the evening semi-finals as the fourth fastest overall. In the semi-finals he went slightly slower than in the morning but finished fourth in his race to secure a spot as sixth fastest in Wednesday’s final.
Jessica Thompson (17), missed out by one-hundredth of a second, on the 16 swimmers advancing to the semi-finals of the women’s 50m butterfly when she clocked 25.73 in her heat.
Chad le Clos was in 50m butterfly action – his preferred events are the 100m and 200m – and finished eighth in his heat in 22.67 to miss out on advancing to the semi-finals.
Twenty-year-old Hanna Robertson was in action in women’s 400m freestyle heats and her time of 4:12.77 wasn’t enough to see her advance, with Canada’s Summer McIntosh topping the time sheets at 3:57.55.
Milla Drakopoulus (18), was also in the water where her 59.33 in the women’s 100m backstroke heats wasn’t enough to take her to the semi-finals.
DAY 1 RESULTS
Men’s 50m butterfly (heats): Chad le Clos finished 8th in his heat in 22.67, which placed him 22nd overall and missing out on the semi-finals
Men’s 100m backstroke (heats): Ruard van Renen finished 2nd in 49.73 and is the 4th fastest qualifier for the semi-finals, with Hungary’s Hurbert Kos (49.12) the quickest
Men’s 100m backstroke (semi-finals): Ruard van Renen finished 4th in his semi-final in 49.89 to qualify for the final as 6th fastest
Men’s 1500m freestyle (heats): Kris Mihaylov finished 7th in his heat in 14:52.53
Men’s 4x100m freestyle (heats): South Africa’s quartet of Ruard van Renen, Michael Houlie, Arno Kruger and Kian Keylock finished 10th in their heat in 3:17.19 and missed out on a place in the final
Women’s 50m butterfly (heats): Jessica Thompson finished 6th in her heat in 25.73 and qualified 17th fastest, missing out on the semi-finals by 1/100th of a second
Women’s 100m backstroke (heats): Milla Drakopoulus placed 9th in her heat in 59.33, which put her 26th overall and not progressing to the semi-final
Women’s 200m medley (heats): Rebecca Meder finished 2nd in her heat in a South African record 2:06.15 to qualify 4th fastest for the evening final
Women’s 200m medley (final): Rebecca Meder blazed her way to a second South African record in one day when she finished 7th in the final in 2:05.61
Women’s 400m freestyle (heats): Hannah Robertson finished 8th in 4:12.77 which placed her 28th overall and she didn’t progress to the final
Women’s 4x100m freestyle (heats): South Africa’s quartet of Caitlin de Lange, Hannah Robertson, Milla Drakapoulos and Jessica Thompson finished 7th in their semi-final in 2:42.39 and missed out on a place in the final
Wednesday’s programme, with SA times in brackets, is. TBC = to be confirmed
MORNING SESSION
Women’s 100m freestyle (heats, 10.10am): Caitlin de Lange
Men’s 100m freestyle (heats, 10.46am): Ruard van Renen
Women’s 100m breaststroke (heats, 11.01am): Lara van Niekerk (pictured)
Women’s 100m breaststroke (heats, 11.04am): Rebecca Meder
Men’s 100m breaststroke (heats, 11.31am): Chris Smith
Men’s 4x50m medley (heats, 12.18pm): Team SA
EVENING SESSION
Men’s 100m backstroke (final, 6.40pm): Ruard van Renen
Women’s 100m freestyle (semi-finals, 6.48pm): Caitlin de Lange TBC
Men’s 100m freestyle (semi-finals, 6.58pm): Ruard van Renen TBC
Women’s 100m breaststroke (semi-finals, 7.13pm): Lara van Niekerk and Rebecca Meder TBC
Men’s 100m breaststroke (semi-finals, 11.31am): Chris Smith TBC
Men’s 4x40m medley (final, 12.18pm): Team SA TBC
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