Jessica Thompson Ties African Record in 50 Backstroke at South African Champs; Chad le Clos Doubles Again
Jessica Thompson stole the show on the second day of action at the Bombela Concession Company SA National (25m) Championships in Pietermaritzburg on Friday, breaking a national record and equaling the African mark held by Zimbabwe’s new International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry.
The 18-year-old was disappointed to miss out on the SA record in the 50m butterfly on Thursday, but responded in the best way possible, setting a new mark in the 50m backstroke of 26.85. That saw her break the record that had been set by Chanelle van Wyk 16 years ago. Van Wyk was poolside to witness the achievement, providing the commentary for the television coverage of the championships.
“It’s so good, especially after last night. I think it was a bit of a tough pill to swallow, but I’m really happy to have gotten it tonight and just getting that time is a really big deal for me,” Thompson said.
Meanwhile, the 50m backstroke title was claimed by Chad le Clos, who is rapidly reinventing himself as a backstroker. He powered to victory in 23.62, in a race he described as the main takeaway of his last two days of racing. The former Olympic champion was back in more familiar territory just a few minutes later, also securing victory in the 100m butterfly in a time of 50.81.
“I feel great. I think the backstroke was the highlight… It’s weird, my backstroke and my freestyle were probably my better swims, not my butterflies,” he said. “I want to try and keep going as long as I can and I think the 50s have given me a lot of life, especially short course. I know I will improve and I’ve got a lot of big things coming… I think I’m going to settle nicely into the new year, build toward April and then hopefully surprise everybody next year. That’s the plan.”
The women’s 100m butterfly produced a surprise champion in 16-year-old Abigail Kotze, who beat Olympian Duné Coetzee to the title in a time of 1:00.69.
Coetzee had earlier picked up victory in the 200m freestyle, winning in a time of 1:59.71, while it was Matthew Caldwell who took the men’s title in 1:49.01.
The 800m freestyle titles were decided earlier in the day, with Carli Antonopoulos thrilled to claim a first national short course title, winning in 8:53.28, while 17-year-old Stephan Engelbrecht took the win in the men’s race with a time of 7:56.72.
There were also first-time champions in both the men’s and women’s 400m individual medley with 18-year-old Keira van Heerden taking the women’s title in 4:51.13 and Juan Boshoff the men’s in 4:21.29, taking over two seconds off his previous personal best.
