Tatjana and Kaylene go out hard in 200m breaststroke heats

Tatjana Schoenmaker and Kaylene Corbett delivered world-class performances in the women’s 200m breaststroke heats at the national championships in Gqeberha on Friday morning.

Schoenmaker won her heat in 2min 22.82sec, while Corbett finished first in hers in 2:24.93. Both times are inside the A-qualifying standard for the world championships in Fukuoka, Japan, in July.

The effort by Schoenmaker — the Olympic and two-times Commonwealth Games champion in this event — ranks her second in the world so far this year, while Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Corbett slots in at sixth.

Not bad for morning swims.

Matthew Sates was the fastest in both the men’s 400m individual medley and in the star-studded 100m freestyle, where he was one of only two in the morning to dip under 50 seconds.

Sates went 49.48, with Pieter Coetzé touching in 49.82. US-based Kobe Ndebele was third-quickest in 50.29 with Chad Le Clos next in 50.31.

But veteran Roland Schoeman dropped out using the identical tactic he employed the last time he competed at a national championships in Gqeberha. The Olympic medallist from Athens 2004 bailed after the first 50 metres of the race, presumably as a warm-up for his premier 50m freestyle race on Saturday.

In 2013 the pool turned green and organisers had to use timed finals, giving swimmers just one race in each event, so Schoeman used the first half of the 100m to prepare for the 50m freestyle the following day. 

Sates swam the IM race later in the morning and went 4:34.74.

Aimee Canny set the pace in the women’s 100m freestyle heats, clocking 54.84, while Rebecca Meder was fastest in the women's 400m IM in 4:57.64 and Matthew Randle the fastest in the men’s 200m breaststroke in 2:16.41.

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