ALGIERS, Algeria – The South African swimming team bagged two gold, three silver and two bronze medals, as the third day of the 13th CANA Africa Swimming and Open Water Championships came to a close in Algiers on Wednesday night.
In the 50m breaststroke, it was Lara van Niekerk who came out on top with a new Championships record time of 31.99, shedding just under a second from the 32.58 record held by Kaylene Corbett. Jade Simons won SA’s second medal in the race, a bronze, finishing in 33.10, while the silver went to Zambia’s Tilka Paljk in 32.15.
Jessica Whelan bagged yet another silver medal, this time in the 400m freestyle, clocking 4:23.76, while Egypt’s Hania Moro walked away with the gold in 4:21.76 and Algeria’s Cherouati Nafissa with the bronze in 4:24.42.
Next in the water was Hannah Kiely in the 100m backstroke, winning a silver medal for South Africa in 1:04.53, behind Egypt’s Samiha Mohsen in 1:04.19 and ahead of Mauritius’ Fahsi Hiba in 1:05.98. Kiely was also a part of the 4x100m freestyle relay team that won the gold in 3:52.63 with the help of teammates Erin Gallagher, Janie Coetzer and Lesley Blignaut.
In a closely contested 200m backstroke, Jacques van Wyk finished with the silver medal in 2:05.76, while the gold was claimed by Algeria’s M Bouhamidi in 2:05.13 and the bronze by Egypt’s Mohamed Samy in 2:06.88.
Ayrton Sweeney, Alaric Basson, Ruan Breytenbach and Alard Basson finished off the evening with a bronze medal in the 4x200m freestyle relay, clocking 7:38.19 behind Egypt in 7:28.10 and Tunisia in 7:31.55.