Cameron van der Burgh wrapped the sole Olympic berth on night 2 of the South African Nationals. The world record holder in the 50 meter breaststroke became just the fourth man this year to clear the 1:00 barrier in 59.90 as he now sits third behind only Japan’s Kosuke Kitajima and Ryo Takeishi. He finished third in the 100 distance at the 2011 world championships and will look to earn his first Olympic hardware this summer.
Taking second in the race was Neil Versfeld in 1:00.99 to move up to 22nd this year. The former Georgia standout missed the Olympic Qualifying Standard by two-tenths which means he will not be heading to London in the event. He along with van der Burgh were the only swimmers who had already met the qualifying mark prior to this meet; as noted yesterday South Africa Swimming required that the athletes meet the mark twice in a 10 month period with one required during the finals at this meet.
In the women’s 100 butterfly it was the teenager who snuck past the veteran as Vanessa Mohr touched in 59.72 ahead of three-time Olympic Mandy Loots. Neither were quick enough to earn a trip to London as both missed the A standard of 58.70. Mohr had already cleared the mark at least year’s world championships as Loots would have needed a second time under the standard to earn another trip to the Olympics.
Multi-time NCAA champion Wendy Trott captured a national title with her win in the 400 free with a time 4:12.86. That time wasn’t fast enough to meet the 4:09.35 set by FINA for an automatic trip to London and as she failed to meet the time during the finals she won’t represent South Africa in this event this summer. She will have another opportunity to make the Olympic team in the 800 later in the meet. Second place went to 15-year old Michelle Weber in 4:15.91.
A day after earning the first berth to London with his win in the 400 IM it was Chad Le Clos that led a strong field in the semifinals of the men’s 200 free. Le Clos touched in 1:47.20 to post the only FINA A mark in the field and it also moved him up to 11th on the year. Sitting in second is Darian Townsend in 1:48.26. The two-time Olympian looks to lock up another trip to the Games tomorrow evening.
Also looking for a shot at the 800 free relay will be Sebastien Rousseau (1:48.58) and Jean Basson (1:49.02).
The big news out of prelims was the notable absence of backstroker Gerhard Zandberg in the heats of the men’s 100 back. Through the semis it was Charles Crous who touched in 54.19 to clear the FINA A standard and move to 20th on the year. He will need a repeat performance tomorrow night in the finals to secure an individual trip to the Olympics in the event but either way if he touches first during the finals he will likely still go to London as part of the 400 medley relay, a strong event for the South Africans. Darren Murray touched second in 54.96 while Ricky Ellis is third at 56.03.
In the women’s 100 backstroke it was Karin Prinsloo who led the field as she touched in 1:01.15, a full two second ahead of the rest of the qualifiers. In the women’s 100 breaststroke Suzaan van Biljon took the top seed with a time of 1:08.60, just two tenths off the FINA A mark.