Cameron van der Burgh finally swung into action at the SA short-course championships in Durban on Saturday, his first taste of racing since returning from honeymoon three weeks ago.
Van der Burgh admitted he had a few anxious moments after missing the world championship qualifying mark for the 100m breaststroke in the morning heats.
But he made no mistake in the evening final as he surged to victory in 57.63sec to secure his spot with the 50m breaststroke still to come on Sunday.
“I was a little nervous after the morning,” a beaming Van der Burgh said afterwards, adding he had to start putting in the hard work for the international showpiece in China from December 11-16.
Tatjana Schoenmaker delivered her fourth qualifying time of the gala as she broke Suzaan van Biljon’s 10-year-old SA 100m breaststroke record, clocking 1min 05.12sec.
She’s done two times in the 200m breaststroke and two in the shorter race.
And Erin Gallagher qualified in her third event as she added the 100m individual medley to the 50m butterfly and 100m freestyle.
With the gala ending on Sunday, 10 swimmers have qualified so far, six men and four women.
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