Chad Le Clos, Dylan Bosch Battle In 200 IM Final at South African Nationals

Bosch,D.

DURBAN, South Africa, April 11. CHAD Le Clos and Karin Prinsloo continued to pile on the wins today at the South African long course nationals as the country continues to add names to the Commonwealth Games roster.

Men 100 fly final
Le Clos kicked off the finals session with the 100 fly, the event he won at last year’s world championships. He’ll get the opportunity to add 100 fly Commonwealth Games champion to that list thanks to a 52.14 to win the event by 1.7 seconds. It’s well off the 51.06 he swam last year to win at worlds, but beat the qualifying standard of 52.57. Brett Walsh was second in 53.84, while Joshua Steyn took third with a 54.13.

Women 50 free final
Trudi Maree wasn’t able to earn qualification to the Commonwealth team in the 50 free, posting a 25.78 in the final to miss the standard of 25.34. Jessica Ashley-Cooper, in the first of two finals for her tonight, placed second with a 26.30, while Lehesta Kemp took third with a 26.33.

Men 50 breast final
World champion Cameron van der Burgh and world bronze medalist Giulio Zorzi went 1-2 as expected in today’s sprint event, but van der Burgh went a bit slower than his semifinal time with a 27.29. His 27.05 from semis will hold him second in the world behind Christian Sprenger’s 26.74. Zorzi was second in 28.18 while Jared Pike snuck in for third with a 28.40.

Women 200 back final
Prinsloo just missed out on scoring another national record, winning the 200 back with a 2:10.32 to miss out on the 2:10.03 by Melissa Corfe from 2008. It was good enough to earn Prinsloo another event at the Commonwealth Games, so she’ll have another opportunity. Nathania Van Niekerk placed second with a 2:14.46 while Samantha Randle took third with a 2:17.41.

Men 50 free semifinals
Roland Schoeman and Brad Tandy are looking to be the top sprinting Springboks for the Commonwealth Games, and the two posted the fastest 50 freestyles of the day. Schoeman put up the top time with a 22.04, 10th in the world standings. He’ll need to replicate the time in finals tomorrow to get the chance to appear at his fourth Commonwealth Games, as the qualifying standard is 22.33. Brad Tandy, the co-NCAA champion in this event, posted a 22.44 for second and will look to get under qualifying for his first senior-level international competition. Walsh was third with a 22.84.

Women 100 breast final
Tara Nicholas barely got her name on the Commonwealth Games roster with a 1:08.59 in the 100 breast, beating the qualifying time of 1:08.63. Justine Macfarlane was on pace for a sub-1:09 swim as well after 50 meters but faded to post a 1:09.67 for second place. Franko Jonker, the 200 breast winner, was third in the shorter event with a 1:09.79.

Men 100 back final
Darren Murray got under 55 seconds for the win in the 100 back, but was five tenths off automatic qualification for the Commonwealth team with a 54.98. Charl Crous was eight tenths ahead of Murray at 50 meters, but couldn’t hold on and settled for second with a 55.00. Ricky Ellis was also in the hunt, placing third with a 55.14.

Women 400 free final
Prinsloo made it two-for-two on wins today, taking the 400 free with a 4:12.98. She won’t be able to swim this race at Commonwealth Games, as the qualifying standard is listed at 4:09.81. Michelle Weber was second with a 4:17.53 after holding a body length behind Prinsloo at the halfway point, while Caitlin Kat finished third with a 4:17.99 as Weber passed her on the final 100.

Women 50 back final
Ashley-Cooper was one of two swimmers under 30 seconds in today’s final, posting a 29.25 for the win ahead of the 29.76 by Jamie Reynolds. Naomi Ruele finished third with a 30.13.

Men 200 IM final
Le Clos chased after Darian Townsend’s national record of 1:57.03, but fell short with a 1:57.94 that is a personal best for Le Clos. It also puts him fourth in the world standings and the third-fastest among Commonwealth swimmers, just behind the two Australians ahead of him. Dylan Bosch got a second event to swim at the Commonwealth Games with a 1:59.23 to dip under the qualifying standard of 1:59.99. Bosch was even with Le Clos for the first half of the race and led after breaststroke, but could not match Le Clos’ freestyle strength. Neil Fair was a distant third with a 2:05.76.

Women 400 free relay final
Northern Tigers won the relay with a 3:50.18 led by a 55.12 from Prinsloo. Western Province captured second with a 3:51.95 while KwaZulu Natal placed third with a 3:54.02.

Results For: South Africa nationals, day 5

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