South African National Championships: Chad Le Clos Qualifies for Worlds

PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa, April 11. SA swim star, Chad le Clos clocked an A qualifying time for the FINA World Championships in Shanghai when he produced a sparkling performance on the opening night of the Telkom SA National Swimming Championships in Port Elizabeth tonight, Monday, 11th April 2011.

Le Clos came from behind to take the 200m butterfly title in 1:57.20. The 18 year old was trailing behind Sebastien Rousseau but overtook him in the final sprint and Rousseau ended with the silver in 1:57.95, with Dylan Bosch grabbing a bronze in 1:59.21.

Having swam an A qualification time in the 200m individual medley heat session (2:15.13), Kathryn Meaklim narrowly missed the qualification time when she finished in a time of 2:15.37 in the final, just tenth of a second off the criteria time of 2:15.27. As the only athlete in the event to achieve an A qualifying time, Meaklim will be considered for selection to the FINA World Championships.

In the 50m butterfly semi-finals, it was 16 year old Vanessa Mohr who clocked the exact time needed for the FINA World Championships qualification of 26.68. Mohr will need to swim a qualification standard in the finals tomorrow evening to confirm a berth for Shanghai.

Suzaan van Biljon finished first in the 50m breaststroke semi-finals in 32.40 which will make for an interesting final tomorrow as she strives to set the 31.52 qualification time set by Swimming SA in accordance with FINA rules.

Earlier on in the evening, Karin Prinsloo claimed the gold in the 200m freestyle in a time of 2:00.89, followed by Leone Vorster in 2:01.66 and Natalie Elphick in 2:03.65. Heerden Herman's time of 3:51.08 secured him the gold in the 400m freestyle, with Riaan Schoeman in second (3:52.26) and Myles Brown finishing with the bronze in 3:53.11.

The fast times will continue tomorrow at the Newton Park Swimming Pool as the second day of the Telkom SA National Swimming Championships gets underway from 09h00 and the finals beginning at 18h00.

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