Chris Smith became the sixth South African swimmer to achieve a world championship qualifying time at the SA Short Course Championships in Durban on Saturday.
Despite tearing his swimsuit just before his 50m breaststroke final and having to make a speedy change, the 18-year-old stormed to victory in a time of 26.68 seconds to book his spot on the team to the World Short Course Championships taking place in Budapest, Hungary from 10-15 December.
“I think it warmed me up a little bit because I had to jog to the bathroom and come back,” joked the Centurion swimmer afterwards.
“I was quite confident coming in because this morning my stroke rate was slow so I just picked it up tonight,” he added of swimming under the mark.
Meanwhile, dipping under the qualifying time in his fourth event of the competition was US-based up-and-comer Ruard van Renen, who is coached by former SA swimmer Neil Versfeld at the University of Georgia.
While he had already achieved qualifying times in the 100m freestyle, 100m butterfly and 50m backstroke, Van Renen’s main focus was the 100m backstroke. He made absolutely sure of swimming the required time in that event, first with a 50.64-second effort in the morning heat and then 50.97 for victory in the final.
“This morning I really pushed… doing it in the morning took the pressure off so I could come out here to just enjoy the race,” he said after the final.
“I feel like the past few days I’ve surprised myself and other people too. Having all those races back to back definitely put some lactic acid in my legs… now I’m going to relax and eat way too much pasta,” added the mechanical engineering student.
Also adding another qualifying time to her haul was Rebecca Meder. The 22-year-old cruised to victory in the 200m individual medley in a time of 2:08.78 but admitted afterwards, she was hoping to go faster.
“I think I was hoping for at least a 2:07 but I can either be hard on myself or I can be satisfied and happy that I made the time,” said the SA record holder afterwards.
“I always come out and critique everything, but it’s a solid time… and that’s all I really needed at this stage,” she added.
“Today was a tough day in the office for me mentally, I was quite tired today so I’m more proud of myself showing up to the battle every single time and being able to deliver.”
Earlier in the day, Chad le Clos swam a 200m butterfly time trial and recorded another world championship qualifying time, finishing in 1:53.58. That means it was mission accomplished for the veteran star who achieved qualifying times in the 50, 100 and 200m butterfly as well as in the 100m freestyle.
The SA Short Course Championships conclude on Sunday.