Matt Sates showed signs of returning to his best in the SA Champs. Swimming SA
Image: Roger Sedres/Swimming SA
Two more swimmers achieved world championships qualifying marks on the second day of action at the SA National Swimming Championships in Gqeberha, joining the star of the opening night, Pieter Coetzé, on the team to Singapore later this year.
Rebecca Meder raced to victory in a time of 2:10.39 in the 200m medley, booking a place at the global event and setting a new national record.
Meder had set the previous record of 2:10.67 at the Olympic Games in Paris last year and was blown away by the achievement.
Rebecca Meder bettered her national record in the 200m individual medley at the SA National Swimming Championships in Gqeberha on Thursday.
Image: Roger Sedres/Swimming SA
“I will say I'm very surprised with a 2:10.3. We thought at least the 2:11 low, maybe sneak in a 2:10 high, but to break my own SA record and to go a 2:10.3 is mind blowing, so I’m really happy with that,” she said afterwards.
Another surprise record came in the women’s 50m backstroke where Michaela de Villiers outgunned Jessica Thompson to take gold in a new national mark of 28.25 seconds.
“I am so happy about it. It's very exciting, not something I expected so very, very happy,” said an elated De Villiers.
It was the Louisiana-based star's first senior long course national title.
“I don't really train backstroke so it’s especially surprising because of that, but it feels really good. I think freestyle training actually kind of relates, so I’m very happy about it,” she said.
Meanwhile, the other swimmer to add his name to the list of qualifiers on Thursday was Matt Sates. The 21-year-old looked to be returning to his best form as he cruised to victory in the 200m individual medley in 1:58.83.
Matt Sates cruised to victory in the 200m individual medley at the SA National Swimming Championships in Gqeberha on Thursday.
Image: Roger Sedres/Swimming SA
“It's nice going close to my best times again,” said Sates afterwards. “A nice relief to do it, to qualify for worlds is always nice, because it’s every swimmer’s goal to do it, and so it’s a privilege to go.”
Sates later added the 200m butterfly gold to his rapidly growing collection of titles at the championships, winning in a time of 1:57.71.
Coetzé had dipped under the 100m backstroke qualifying mark on the opening day of the championships, winning the morning heat in 53.03 seconds. He went even quicker in the final, taking the win ahead of Ruard van Renen in a time of 52.71.
The 20-year-old achieved another two qualifying times – in the heats and the final of the 50m backstroke on Thursday. His heat time of 24.56 seconds was faster than his time in the final, where he clocked 24.78 to take the gold.
“I think I'm happy to get the win and to qualify, but it would have been nice to go a bit faster tonight, especially because I went faster in the morning so you always want to cut down some time between the morning and the afternoon, but I'm happy with it,” he said.
With the recent news that all the individual 50m events will be included in the LA Olympic Games programme in 2028, Coetzé suggested he and his coach may re-examine what his main events could be.
Pieter Coetzé became the first swimmer to claim a World Aquatics Championships qualifying time among the strong field at the SA National Swimming Championships in Gqeberha.
Image: Roger Sedres/Swimming SA
“When I was younger, sprinting was more my thing, and when I joined Rocco (Meiring) we did a bit more mileage so I became a bit more of a 200 swimmer,” he explained.
“It's very tempting now to go back to sprint training and focus on maybe 50 free, and 50 and 100 back. I was just trying to get my mind off the news and focus on the task at hand first, and then after this week I’ll chat to my coach and maybe we'll do a change.”
Coetzé reached both the Olympic 100m and 200m backstroke finals in Paris last year.
Swimming action continues at the Newton Park Swimming Pool in Gqeberha until Sunday.