“Lara, I was trying to catch you,” said Meder, moving in to give her SA teammate a congratulatory hug. “Imagine if an IM swimmer beat a breaststroker,” joked Van Niekerk. “You pushed me to the time, thank you.”
“And you pulled me to it, thank you,” replied Meder, who had achieved B-qualifying times in four other events, namely the 100m butterfly, 100m freestyle and the two IM races.
Van Niekerk, Meder and Pieter Coetzé were the only swimmers to achieve A-qualifiers at the four-day gala which ended on Sunday.
There were no qualifiers in the men’s 200m butterfly, which was missing Chad le Clos and Matthew Sates, but they delivered probably the closest finish of the meet, with Guy Brooks emerging from the back to snatch victory in 1:58.86.
Bob Fick had led for most of the race until Ross Hartigan caught him on the final lap, but that’s when Brooks torpedoed past to beat them to the wall. Hartigan was second in 1:58.94 and Fick third in 1:59.34.
Matric pupil Dakota Tucker won the women’s 200m butterfly in 2:13.25 in her third B-qualifying time of the championship.
“I wasn’t happy with the 200 fly,” she said, adding she had hoped to get an A-qualifier.
In total nine swimmers achieved B-qualifiers, which in the past has not been considered for selection by Swimming SA.
Sates, the top swimmer at the short-course World Cup series last year, didn’t crack an A-time, but he posted B-qualifiers in six events. He has nearly 10 weeks to sharpen before the 2022 edition kicks off in Berlin on October 21.
He has already achieved A qualifying times, as have others, during the window which started in mid-2021. It closes on November 13.
Even without Tatjana Schoenmaker and Kaylene Corbett, the women still outperformed the men, with seven getting B-qualifiers compared to five men.
Van Niekerk’s other A-qualifiers came in the 50m and 100m breaststroke, while Coetzé did it in the 100m and 200m backstroke.
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Van Niekerk closes SA champs with fast showdown against Meder
Image: Al Bello/Getty Images
Double Commonwealth Games champion Lara van Niekerk outduelled hard-chasing Rebecca Meder to win the less familiar 200m breaststroke at the SA short-course championships in Pietermaritzburg on Sunday.
And for the first and only time in this gala two swimmers dipped under the A-qualifying time for the world championships in Melbourne in December.
Van Niekerk touched in a 2 min 22.75 sec personal best with Meder finishing behind her in 2:23.37, just one-hundredth of a second inside the 2:23.38 mark that should guarantee automatic selection.
This was a classic showdown between a power swimmer who owns the breaststroke at 50m and 100m and an all-round star, the 200m individual medley champion who had won their contest in the 100m IM earlier in the gala.
Van Niekerk forged ahead early on, as expected, and then Meder edged her way back, using her underwater skills after each turn to good effect. But the Games 50m and 100m breaststroke queen, suffering from a lactic overdose on the final 25 metres, refused to be beaten.
“I was hurting on the last lap, but seeing Rebecca so close gave me adrenaline,” said Van Niekerk, who goes under the knife on Wednesday to remove a bone in her left ankle that has been causing pain for six years.
Lara vs Tatjana in all-SA battle for breaststroke dominance
“Lara, I was trying to catch you,” said Meder, moving in to give her SA teammate a congratulatory hug. “Imagine if an IM swimmer beat a breaststroker,” joked Van Niekerk. “You pushed me to the time, thank you.”
“And you pulled me to it, thank you,” replied Meder, who had achieved B-qualifying times in four other events, namely the 100m butterfly, 100m freestyle and the two IM races.
Van Niekerk, Meder and Pieter Coetzé were the only swimmers to achieve A-qualifiers at the four-day gala which ended on Sunday.
There were no qualifiers in the men’s 200m butterfly, which was missing Chad le Clos and Matthew Sates, but they delivered probably the closest finish of the meet, with Guy Brooks emerging from the back to snatch victory in 1:58.86.
Bob Fick had led for most of the race until Ross Hartigan caught him on the final lap, but that’s when Brooks torpedoed past to beat them to the wall. Hartigan was second in 1:58.94 and Fick third in 1:59.34.
Matric pupil Dakota Tucker won the women’s 200m butterfly in 2:13.25 in her third B-qualifying time of the championship.
“I wasn’t happy with the 200 fly,” she said, adding she had hoped to get an A-qualifier.
In total nine swimmers achieved B-qualifiers, which in the past has not been considered for selection by Swimming SA.
Sates, the top swimmer at the short-course World Cup series last year, didn’t crack an A-time, but he posted B-qualifiers in six events. He has nearly 10 weeks to sharpen before the 2022 edition kicks off in Berlin on October 21.
He has already achieved A qualifying times, as have others, during the window which started in mid-2021. It closes on November 13.
Even without Tatjana Schoenmaker and Kaylene Corbett, the women still outperformed the men, with seven getting B-qualifiers compared to five men.
Van Niekerk’s other A-qualifiers came in the 50m and 100m breaststroke, while Coetzé did it in the 100m and 200m backstroke.
Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.
READ MORE
Lara van Niekerk lowers her own African record at SA championships
Minke bags world record No.5
'Raw' Coetzé drifts to victory while Sates claims two more titles
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