African records for Coetze and Meder at World Short Course Championships 6 December 2022 – Pieter Coetzé faced a tough mental battle when he had to swim his 50m backstroke final at the World Short Course Championships twice on Friday. The 18-year-old had to deal with the drama of a false start signal – later discovered to be an error by the starter. Like several others in the pool, Coetzé didn’t hear the signal and swam the full distance before realising the race had been halted. Of the swimmers competing, ... Read More

World Short Course Championships Melbourne - Day 4 Summary Meder started the African challenge on day 4, swimming a competitive time of 2:23.64 in the Womens 200m Breaststroke. Liam Davis (ZIM) and Kian Keylock (SA) participated in the Mens 200m Breaststroke and swam times of 2:13.99 and 2:11.20 respectively. In the Womens 50m Freestyle, South Africa’s Caitlin de Lange set the fastest time by an African in 24.67. This time was followed by Algeria’s Amel Melih swimming a time of 25.08, Kirabo Namutebi (UGA) setting a new nation... Read More

King Chad returns to top spot on world short course podium 15 December 2022 – An emotional Chad le Clos claimed a long-awaited gold medal in the 200m butterfly at the World Short Course Championships in Melbourne on Thursday. The former Olympic champion raced like he did at the start of his international career, hanging back as American Trenton Julian burned himself out swimming at world-record pace and then pouncing in the final 50m to win in a new lifetime best – and African record time of 1:48.27. That was almost a full sec... Read More

World Short Course Championships Melbourne - Day 3 Summary Milla Drakopoulos (SA), in a time of 28.08, was the fastest African in the 50m Backstroke. She was followed by Donata Katai (ZIM) 28.83, Nubia Adjei (GHA) 29.96, Idealy Tendrinavalona (MAD) 32.19, Naya Hughes (BOT) 32.20 and Raya Young (ESW) 35.86. Pieter Coetze (SA) and Abdellah Ardjoune (ALG) were the only African participants in the Mens 50m backstroke, with the former setting a time of 25.71 and the latter a semis qualifying time of 23.01. Dakota Tucker, the only African pa... Read More

World Short Course Championships Melbourne - Day 2 Summary Stephanie Houtman started day 2 the same as day 1 by taking the win in her heat in the Womens 800m in a time of 8.39.15. South Africa’s Caitlin de Lange was the fastest African in the Womens 100m Freestyle heats, setting a time of 54.47. This time was followed by Amel Melih (ALG) 55.58, Oumy Diop (SEN) 58.47, Nomvula Mjimba (ZIM) 59.81, Lubaina Ali (KEN) 1:00.63, Sophia Latiff (TAN) 1:00.97 and Ammara Pinto (MAL) 1:07.47 In the Mens 100m Freestyle, Youssef Ramadan (EGY) s... Read More