SWIMMING NEWS - With Chad le Clos and Cameron van der Burgh back in the water, the Commonwealth Games qualifying times continued to tumble on the second day of the KZN Aquatics Premier Championships at the Kings Park Aquatics Centre in Durban on Saturday.
Van der Burgh turned up the tempo as he posted a Commonwealth Games qualifying time in the final of the 100m breaststroke in a golden 59.89 ahead of Michael Houlie, who, besides winning the silver, also dipped under the required 1:02.46, and added his name to the qualification list in 1:01.98. The bronze went to Brenden Crawford in 1:03.82.
Le Clos and Jarryd Baxter celebrated their Commonwealth Games qualification times in the 200m freestyle, finishing first and second in 1:48.28 and 1:50.79, respectively, while the bronze medal was claimed by Calvyn Justus in 1:51.55.
Le Clos was once again victorious in the 50m butterfly in 24.06, followed by Ryan Coetzee in 24.19 and Ralph Goveia in 24.54.
The phenomenal performances continued with Mariella Venter, who raced to the gold and a Commonwealth Games qualification time of 1:02.55 in the 100m backstroke, followed by Nathania van Niekerk in 1:02.79 and Naomi Ruele in 1:04.21.
Erin Gallagher had another fantastic day of swimming, bagging her second Commonwealth Games qualification, this time in the 50m freestyle, breaking her own 2015 KZN record with a new time of 25.35. The silver and bronze went to Emma Chelius and Olivia Nel, both touching the wall in Commonwealth Games qualification times of 25.66 and 26.06, respectively.
In the 200m freestyle, 15-year-old Dune Coetzee became the ninth swimmer of the night to add her name to the list of Commonwealth Games qualifiers when she finished in 2:02.68 ahead of Marlies Ross in 2:03.04 and Kristin Bellingan in 2:03.68.
