First Day of Competition Complete at African Swimming Championships

DAKAR, Senegal, September 12. THE first day of the African Swimming Championships held in Dakar, Senegal from Sept. 11-17 is in the books with Tunisia taking a lead with five medals overall. The Tunisians accounted for two golds, two silvers and one bronze. Meanwhile, South Africa owned the most top-heavy total with three golds and one bronze.

Men’s 400 Freestyle
Tunisia opened up the meet with a top-two sweep as Ahmed Mathlouthi clocked a 3:58.75 to win the men’s 400 free with Mohamed Mettigi placing second with a 4:02.13. Egypt’s Mohamed Magdy rounded out the top three with a 4:02.92.

After initially falling behind with a 1:58.63 split at the 200-meter mark, Mathlouthi back-halfed the race to take a full-second lead at the 300-meter mark with a 2:58.62 against Mettigi’s 2:59.66.

Women’s 100 Freestyle
South Africa’s Leone Vorster won the women’s 100 freestyle with the only sub 58-second time by touching in 57.67. Meanwhile, Tunisia’s Sarra Chahed finished second with a 58.01, while Zimbabwe’s Samantha Richter garnered bronze in 59.44.

Vorster led wire-to-wire with a 27.97 first 50 to touch just in front of Chahed’s 27.98 at the halfway mark. Vorster then came home in 29.70 to secure the title.

Men’s 100 Breaststroke
South Africa went back-to-back with a victory in the men’s 100 breast as Thabang Moeketsane won the title by nearly four tenths of a second. Moeketsane hit the wall with a 1:03.39 to down Algerian Sofiane Daid’s silver-winning time of 1:03.78. Meanwhile, Senegal’s Malick Fall captured bronze with a 1:04.18 in front of a home crowd.

While Moeketsane trailed Fall at the halfway mark 29.43 to 29.18, the South African brought it home in 33.96 to win the race.

Women’s 400 IM
Tunisia’s Maroua Mathlouthi kept the 400-meter distance in the family with a triumph in the women’s 400 IM to match Ahmed’s conquest in the 400 free for the men. Maroua crushed the competition with a 4:55.58 for the African title in the event.

Additionally, Algerian Souad Nafisa Cherouati picked up silver in 5:03.50, while Seychelles’ Shrone Austin rounded out the podium with a 5:09.15.

Men’s 100 Butterfly
Kenya’s Jason Dunford dominated the field in the men’s 100 fly with a 53.88 to finish well ahead of Egyptian Ahmed Salah’s silver-winning effort of 55.00. Meanwhile, South African Fouche Venter finished third in 55.40.

Dunford left no doubt with a full second lead at the halfway mark when he recorded a 24.61 front half. He then split a 29.27 in the final 50 meters in the race.

Women’s 800 Freestyle Relay
South Africa snared the first relay title of the meet with an 8:36.20 in the women’s 800-meter freestyle as the quartet of Vorster, Elzanne Werth, Louise Smyth and Tamaryn Laubscher laid claim to the crown.

Vorster opened the race with a 2:05.76 leadoff leg, while Werth finished the second quarter of the race with a 2:07.27 to push the South Africans to a six-second advantage. Smyth turned in a 2:12.98 to lose nearly two seconds of that lead before Laubscher held on to the win with a 2:10.19 anchor leg.

Algeria’s team of Kenza Matoub, Fella Bennaceur, Cherouati and Sarah Hadjabderahmane earned silver in 8:40.60, while the Tunisian squad of Chahed, Raoudha Rebai, Mariem Meddem and Maroua Mathlouthi pocketed bronze in 8:45.86.

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