Both Chad le Clos and Rebecca Meder achieved world championship qualifying times in two events on the opening day of the SA Short Course Championships in Durban on Thursday, with Ruard van Renen also adding his name to the mix.
Le Clos was pushed all the way in the 100m freestyle final and was relieved to claim victory ahead of Van Renen in a time of 46.91 seconds with the US-based swimmer, who is 11 years his junior, finishing second in 47.02 – also below the qualifying time.
“I’m very happy. I was really nervous,” admitted Le Clos afterwards. “I’m always nervous for the first race. I knew Ruard was going to be good and he was right there with me… I said a little prayer like I always do on the last 10m and I was very fortunate to get my hand on the wall first.
“But he was the MVP tonight with his performance. He was very, very good.”
Van Renen was thrilled with his efforts, saying he thought he might have edged out the veteran.
“I definitely thought I had in him in those last five metres but I got out-touched, but I’m still happy with the swim and happy the hard work has paid off,” said the 21-year-old, pointing out this was his first A qualification time at senior level.
Le Clos was back in the pool not long after for the final of the 50m butterfly, where the victory came a lot easier. The 32-year-old touched in 22.40 seconds for his second qualifier of the evening.
“I was faster than I thought in both races if I’m honest… so let’s see how we go in the 100 and 200m fly – obviously my main two events,” he said.
Meanwhile, Meder sprung a surprise by claiming victory in the 100m breaststroke in a time of 1:05.82 that saw her qualifying for December’s World Short Course Championships in Budapest in an event that’s not her speciality.
The 22-year-old dominated the race to finish ahead of Lara van Niekerk, who was second in 1:07.55. Van Niekerk was making her first return to competition after two months out with a back injury.
Meder was back in the pool for the last event of the evening’s action, the 100m individual medley, which she won in a time of 59.03 seconds.
“I’m very happy. I think everyone was quite shocked with my breaststroke,” said the two-time Olympian afterwards. “I was nervous coming in… I said to my family today ‘At the end of the day, I care so much, so it will show when I race. I just have to take that pressure off myself.’ It’s actually so nice to be quite calm before a race and really enjoy it.”
Other winners on the night included Jessica Thompson whose 25.92-second victory in the 50m butterfly just saw her missing out on a qualifying time, and Caitlin de Lange who also just missed out in the 100m freestyle, finishing in a time of 54.16 seconds. She’s now set her sights on qualifying in the 50m freestyle.
Swimming action continues at the Kings Park pool in Durban on Friday with the meet coming to an end on Sunday.