Erin Gallagher showed her intent as she posted the third fastest time of the 50m butterfly heats at the world championships in Doha on Friday, leading three other South Africans into evening semifinals.
Chad le Clos and Matthew Sates qualified in the 100m butterfly and Hannah Pearse progressed in the women’s 200m backstroke.
Gallagher, who made the 100m 'fly final and the 100m freestyle semifinal earlier in the gala, finished second in her heat in 25.69, behind veteran Melanie Henique of France in 25.44.
Swimming in the final heat, Sarah Sjoestroem dominated with the fastest performance of the morning, 24.88.
Gallagher, who set a 100m butterfly African record earlier this week, will surely be looking to dip below the 25.66 national mark she posted winning silver at the World Student Games last year.
Le Clos, a former two-time world champion in the 100m butterfly, clocked the eighth-fastest time of the morning, ending second in his heat in 52.04sec behind Adilbek Mussin of Kazakhstan in 51.75.
Austrian Simon Bucher was the quickest of the morning in 51.42.
Sates ended fifth in his heat to tie for the final 16th semifinal spot on 52.52 with Max McCusker of Ireland.
The two engaged in a swim-off and this time Sates hit the gas to win the decider in 51.80, which effectively counts as the sixth fastest time of the morning.
Pearse ended fifth in her 200m backstroke heat, stopping the clock at 2min 13.26sec to take the last place in the semifinals.
Just four-hundredths of a second slower was another Irish swimmer, Maria Godden. Setting the pace in 2:10.50 was American Claire Curzan, the champion in the 50m and 100m races.
Clayton Jimmie won his 50m freestyle heat in a 22.33 personal best but it was good enough to rank him only 31st overall.
A total of 13 swimmers dipped under 22 seconds, with Australia’s defending champion Cameron McEvoy racing to an impressive 21.13.
Swimming
Erin Gallagher flies into semifinals on good morning for South Africa
Image: Anton Geyser/Gallo Images
Erin Gallagher showed her intent as she posted the third fastest time of the 50m butterfly heats at the world championships in Doha on Friday, leading three other South Africans into evening semifinals.
Chad le Clos and Matthew Sates qualified in the 100m butterfly and Hannah Pearse progressed in the women’s 200m backstroke.
Gallagher, who made the 100m 'fly final and the 100m freestyle semifinal earlier in the gala, finished second in her heat in 25.69, behind veteran Melanie Henique of France in 25.44.
Swimming in the final heat, Sarah Sjoestroem dominated with the fastest performance of the morning, 24.88.
Gallagher, who set a 100m butterfly African record earlier this week, will surely be looking to dip below the 25.66 national mark she posted winning silver at the World Student Games last year.
Le Clos, a former two-time world champion in the 100m butterfly, clocked the eighth-fastest time of the morning, ending second in his heat in 52.04sec behind Adilbek Mussin of Kazakhstan in 51.75.
Austrian Simon Bucher was the quickest of the morning in 51.42.
Sates ended fifth in his heat to tie for the final 16th semifinal spot on 52.52 with Max McCusker of Ireland.
The two engaged in a swim-off and this time Sates hit the gas to win the decider in 51.80, which effectively counts as the sixth fastest time of the morning.
Pearse ended fifth in her 200m backstroke heat, stopping the clock at 2min 13.26sec to take the last place in the semifinals.
Just four-hundredths of a second slower was another Irish swimmer, Maria Godden. Setting the pace in 2:10.50 was American Claire Curzan, the champion in the 50m and 100m races.
Clayton Jimmie won his 50m freestyle heat in a 22.33 personal best but it was good enough to rank him only 31st overall.
A total of 13 swimmers dipped under 22 seconds, with Australia’s defending champion Cameron McEvoy racing to an impressive 21.13.
MORE:
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