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Another gold rush for Team SA in Accra

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The South African team added nine more medals to their already-significant haul on day five of the African Swimming Championships in Accra, Ghana.

That total included four golds, four silvers and one bronze medal.

Ross Hartigan was first up, claiming top honours in the 200m butterfly in 2:00.10 – equalling the championship record he set in the preliminaries. Second in that race was compatriot Ruan Ras, who finished in 2:01.67.

Rebecca Meder continued her impressive run, adding another gold to her medal collection. This time it was in the 200m individual medley, which she also won in a championship record time of 2:15.45. It was another South African one-two with Emily Visagie taking the silver in 2:24.45.

Despite breaking the record, Meder wasn’t entirely satisfied with her swim.

“I’m always excited to swim the 200IM – it’s my favourite race. Like every other race, I gave it my all. I put everything into it,” she said afterwards. “The first 100 was really good – it was just my breaststroke that let me down a little bit but I’m happy. 2:15 is a solid time. I was hoping for a little quicker but after the week of racing that I’ve had so far, I can be really happy with that swim.

“I just love racing no matter how I’m feeling – whether I’m really hurting or feeling amazing,” she added.

Also claiming another gold was Inge Weidemann who topped the podium in the 50m freestyle in 25.95 with Caitlin de Lange taking the silver in 26.15.

Elsewhere, Martin Binedell, who smashed George du Rand’s 13-year-old championship record in the 200m backstroke earlier in the competition had to settle for silver in the hotly contested 100m event. The Pietermaritzburg swimmer finished second in 56.57, behind Egypt’s Mohamed Samy Hassan who took the gold in 56.23.

The Egyptians got the upper hand again in the 1500m freestyle with Marwan Elkamash taking gold in 15:40.65 and Mohamed Moselhy the silver in 15:51.80 while SA’s Roberto Gomes claimed bronze in 16:24.33.

But the South Africans were back on the top step of the podium again in the 4x100m medley relay. Binedell, Bailey Musgrave, Meder and Weidemann powered to victory in a new championship record of 3:56.74 to better the previous mark set in 2016.

200m Butterfly
From left – Ruan Ras & Ross Hartigan & Ramzi Chouchar – 200m butterfly

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Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.