29 January will see Port Elizabeth host top local and international swimmers at the SA International Invitational Swimming Meet taking place at the Newton Park Swimming Pool.
South African swimmers will compete against swimmers from Brazil, USA, Great Britain, Zimbabwe, Spain, Germany, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia and Venezuela.
The 50-metre breaststroke will see world champion Cameron van der Burgh competing against Brazil’s Joao Luiz Gomes Junior and Henrique Barbosa.
The 400m individual medley race, in which Le Clos claimed gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in India, will also see SA’s Riaan Schoeman and Germany’s Yannick Lebherz (who is currently the European championships runner-up in that event) vying for the top spot.
A powerful performance is on the cards from both Gerhard Zandberg and USA’s Randall Bal in the 50 and 100m backstroke races. Bal is currently ranked seventh and 23rd in the world in the 50 and 100m backstroke respectively.
With three gold medals from the recent Commonwealth Games and numerous world records, Natalie du Toit needs no introduction. The 800m freestyle will be the race to watch for as Du Toit will be competing against fellow South African Kathryn Meaklim and Spain’s Mireia Belmonte, who has the fastest seeding time of 8:35.50 and claimed three gold medals and a silver at the 2010 FINA World Short Course Championships in Dubai.
After a study break from swimming, 22-year-old Suzaan van Biljon will be making her return at the Port Elizabeth meet in the 50, 100 and 200m breaststroke.
Double gold medalist from the 2008 Olympic Games, Germany’s Britta Steffen, will be returning to swimming following an injury. Competition will also be rife in the 50m freestyle, where Steffen posted the fastest seeding time of 23.73, ahead of Brazil’s Tatiana Barbosa (25.63) and Great Britain’s Francesca Halsall (26.00).
Twenty-seven-year-old Olympic sensation and world record holder Kirsty Coventry from Zimbabwe will be racing in the 200 and 400m freestyle, 200 and 400m individual medley as well as the 100 and 200m backstroke events. She will be up against SA’s Chanelle van Wyk and Fabiola Molina of Brazil in the 100m backstroke.
Chad Ho, Vanessa Mohr, George du Rand, Mandy Loots, Charl Crous, Wesley Gilchrist, William Diering and Garth Tune will also be among the SA team on the hunt for medals in Port Elizabeth. The event starts on Saturday 29 January with heats at 9.30am and finals starting at 5.30pm.
Chad Ho will return to Port Elizabeth in February to defend his title in the Redhouse River Mile on Sunday 27 February.
According to SASCOC, swimming (Aquatics) has won the most gold olympic medals of any sporting code – out of a total of 8 medals since 1992, three were gold. The three gold medals came from: Penny Heyns (2 in 1996) and the men’s 4x100m freestyle in 2004.
The OPEX 2012 Olympic Squad members for swimming (as per SACOC):
- Men: Roland Schoeman (50m freestyle), Graeme Moore (50m freestyle), Lyndon Ferns (100m freestyle), Jean Basson (200m freestyle), Darian Townsend (200IM), Cameron van der Burgh (100m breaststroke), Neil Versfeld (100m breaststroke), Sebastian Rousseau (200m butterfly), George du Rand (200m backstroke), Riaan Schoeman (400 IM), Chad Ho (open water)
- Women: Kathryn Meaklim (400 IM), Wendy Trott (800m freestyle)
Alan Straton
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