HANGZHOU – Cameron van der Burgh claimed Mzansi’s second medal, winning gold and setting a new Championship Record in the 100m breaststroke race on the second day of the 14th FINA World Swimming Championships in Hangzhou, China, on Wednesday.
Van der Burgh broke Brazil’s Filipe Franca da Silva’s 2014 time of 56.29 by clocking a golden 56.01, while Belarus’ Ilya Shymanovich finished with the silver in 56.10 and Japan’s Yasuhiro Koseki with the bronze in 56.13.
With the seventh fastest semifinal time of 52.70, Erin Gallagher successfully qualified for the final of the 100m freestyle and broke her own African Record in the process. Gallagher first bettered her record, which stood at 53.34, during the morning heats, touching the wall in 53.09 and later improved on that time during the semi-finals, shedding another 0.39.
Olympian Chad le Clos also secured his place in the 100m butterfly final on Thursday after a fast finish in the semifinals, clocking 49.07 and coming second behind the USA’s Caeleb Dressel in 48.93.
Le Clos also swam the 200m freestyle, but just missed out on a spot in the finals, ending in 10th place with a time of 1:43.19.
During the morning heats session, Ryan Coetzee finished 22nd in the 100m butterfly in 51.65, while the quartet of Douglas Erasmus, Rebecca Meder, Gallagher and Brad Tandy concluded the 4x50m mixed freestyle relay in 13th place with a time of 1:33.21.
It will be a busy day for the South African swimming team on Thursday, as Tandy and Erasmus take on the 50m freestyle, with Tandy also swimming in the 100m individual medley, while Gallagher participates in the 50m butterfly, Meder in the 100m individual medley and Ayrton Sweeney races in the 200m breaststroke.