South African Championships: Wendy Trott Sets African Record; Lyndon Ferns Wins 100 Free

DURBAN, South Africa, April 5. IN a heavyweight battle, Lyndon Ferns emerged with a victory in the men's 100 free that included top stars like Roland Schoeman and Ryk Neethling at the South African Championships. Additionally, Wendy Trott crushed her African record in the women's 1500 free.

Ferns wound up winning the event in 49.12, while Neethling (49.15) and Schoeman (49.24) rounded out the rest of the medal-winners.

"It's every athlete's dream to represent their country at the Olympics and when one swim in a field of the quality that I did tonight with the swimmers matching each other shadow for shadow, it's a great feeling to come out on top," Ferns told Swimming South Africa.

Trott went off on the women's 1500 free when she knocked nearly 15 seconds from her African record in the event. She completed the swim in 16:15.58, a massive dip under her previous standard of 16:31.09 set last December. The performance moved Trott into the top 20 of all time in the event.

In the only other men's final, Darian Townsend won the 200 IM with a time of 2:01.82, well off his remarkable African record of 2:01.05 during semis. Riaan Schoeman placed second in the event with a time of 2:04.07, while Sebastien Rousseau placed third in 2:04.26.

In other action, Jessica Pengelly walked away with the women's 200 IM in 2:16.31 to clip her South African record in the event. Pengelly previously owned the record with a 2:16.41 from February.

Jessica Pengelly

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