Sates eighth in butterfly final as Jonker sets new SA record

A busy night seemed to take its toll on South Africa’s Matt Sates at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha on Wednesday with the 20-year-old competing in both the 200m butterfly and the 200m individual medley.

Sates finished eighth in the 200m butterfly final in a time of 1 minute 57.23 seconds.

Japan’s Tomoru Honda claimed the gold in 1:53.88, Italian Alberto Razzetti the silver in 1:54.65 and Martin Espernberger of Austria the bronze in 1:55.16.

Matthew Sates!!!🙌❤️ #TeamSA🇿🇦 #Swimming #Doha2024 #WorldAquaticsChamps pic.twitter.com/h9VV3CRBqK

— Swimming South Africa (@SwimSouthAfrica) February 14, 2024

Just over half an hour later Sates was back in the pool for his 200m individual medley semifinal where he also finished in eighth place.

Usually known for coming back strongly in the final 50m freestyle leg, the Pretoria-based swimmer was well out of contention throughout, finishing in a time of 2:01.21 to miss out on a place in Thursday night’s final.

SA RECORD FOR JONKER, DISAPPOINTMENT FOR LE CLOS

Earlier in the day, Tayla Jonker provided the highlight of the morning session, storming to a new South African record in the 50m backstroke.

The 19-year-old finished fourth in her heat in a time of 28.37 seconds to not only better the mark set by Olivia Nel at last year’s National Championships, but also book a place in her first ever World Championships semifinal as the 12th fastest qualifier overall.

Jonker couldn’t quite match that speed in her semifinal, finishing eighth in 28.48 seconds.

There was disappointment for Chad le Clos in the 100m freestyle heats.

The 31-year-old was some way off his best, finishing ninth in his heat in a time of 49.04 seconds to finish 18th overall and miss out on a place in the evening semifinals.

The mixed 4x100m medley relay team of Pieter Coetzé, Lara van Niekerk, Erin Gallagher and Clayton Jimmie also missed out on the semifinals after finishing 10th overall in 3:48.03.

World Championships swimming continues on Thursday with Erin Gallagher (100m freestyle), Pieter Coetzé (200m backstroke) and Matthew Randle (200m breaststroke) all in action for South Africa in the morning heats.