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Teenage sensation completes golden double in Birmingham

commonwealth games02 August 2022 22:27| © SuperSport
By:Karien Jonckheere
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Lara van Niekerk ensured the South African women completed a clean sweep of the Commonwealth Games breaststroke golds in Birmingham by securing victory in the 100m breaststroke on Tuesday night.

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The 19-year-old followed up her 50m gold with another victory in the longer race, outgunning compatriot and Olympic silver medallist in the event, Tatjana Schonemaker, in the process.

The teenage star admitted afterward she wasn’t expecting to win by such a large margin, having finished in a personal best time of 1:05.47 while Schoenmaker took silver a full 1.21 seconds back in 1:06.68.

“I thought it was going to come down to the touch so I was quite surprised touching the wall and I was like – where’s Tatjana?” admitted Van Niekerk after the race. “I really thought it was going to come down to the last little splits so I was preparing myself for that.

“I died a bit in the last 25 but the crowd kept me going and gave me extra adrenaline so it was a good race.”

Van Niekerk may have beaten her role model to the gold but said having both Schoenmaker and Kaylene Corbett, who finished seventh, in the final with her made all the difference.

“It definitely calms the nerves a lot, compared to at the world championships where I was freaking out and now, having them here it makes me a bit calmer, so hopefully we can always be more than one South African in the final.”

Van Niekerk’s coach Eugene da Ponte was thrilled with his swimmer’s performance, considering she was out of training for a few weeks after an emergency appendectomy earlier in the year.

“We’ve worked hard for this one and it’s been a bit of an up and down year with some difficulties but we managed to get around them. We came here and had a plan for what we wanted to accomplish this week and I think we did pretty well,” he said.

As for beating Schoenmaker in a second major final this season, after doing the same at the National Championships in April, Da Ponte reckoned: “It’s always nice to beat an Olympic silver medallist in the 100 and champion in the 200 but at the end of the day, it’s more about the time, leading up to Paris [Olympics] in two years’ time as that’s what we’re working towards.

“I’m just happy for South Africa that we got both girls on the podium and not just the podium but first and second. Women’s breaststroke in South Africa is on a big, big high at the moment and we hope to keep it going.”

Schoenmaker admitted to feeling the pressure after her exploits in Tokyo last year but said: “The times aren’t really there but I still gave everything I could and it was the best performance I could have given tonight.

“It’s obviously not the best I’ve swum before but I’m very happy and very grateful to still walk away with the silver after having not such a great gala.”

Schoenmaker’s Tuks teammate, Pieter Coetzé, meanwhile, also added to his own medal haul. He produced an incredible final 50m to power back from sixth place at the final turn of the 200m backstroke to secure the bronze in a time of 1:56.77, with the gold going to England’s Brodie Williams in 1:56.40 and silver to Australian Bradley Woodward in 1:56.41. That meant Coetzé completed his collection of medals after taking gold in the 100m backstroke and silver in the 50m backstroke.

“I normally try to save a little bit for the last 50. It’s been something that I’ve tried to change a little bit because sometimes I find myself a bit too far back or I leave it too late, like I did tonight. But I think it was good.

“I don’t think I’ve ever come back that fast so to come that close to winning after turning sixth was great and I can’t complain about that at all. It would have been nice to get the gold but it’s a PB [personal best] so I can’t complain.”

As for walking away with gold, silver and bronze in his individual events at these Games, Coetzé added: “It’s my first Commonwealths, I couldn’t have asked for more so I’m happy and grateful.”

Meanwhile, Chad le Clos was inconsolable after finishing out of the medals in the 100m butterfly. The 30-year-old came in as two-time defending champion but had to settle for fourth place after finishing in 51.61. Canadian Joshua Liendo Edwards took the gold in 51.24 and England’s James Guy and Australian Matt Temple shared the silver after finishing in 51.40.

“I know I’m better than that, but such is life. I’ve been on the back of many defeats in the last two years. It’s just one of them but I’m devastated,” he said after he race.

“I felt good, I thought I was going to win tonight. I was so confident, but I don’t know what’s up. That’s how life goes.

“That was hard to swallow. I need some time to reflect on that race because that’s as disappointing as it gets for me.”

There was more disappointment later in the evening for Le Clos after he and his 4x100m mixed medley relay teammates also finished in fourth place, while Michael Houlie did the same in the 50m breaststroke final, after finishing in 27.36 with English favourite Adam Peaty taking the gold in 26.76.

“I knew I had a relatively decent start and I was just swimming my race, looking forward. I glided a bit into the finish and I think that definitely cost me a medal,” said Houlie.

“But we learn and so I’m going to take that and I’m even more motivated to get back to work and move on and move forward.”

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