Pieter Coetzé delivered the only world championship qualifying time in the opening session of the South African trials in Gqeberha on Wednesday morning.
Coetzé set the pace in the men’s 100m backstroke — the event in which he finished fifth at the Paris Olympics in a 52.58sec national record last year — clocking a dominant 53.03 in the final heat at the Newton Park pool.
Ruard van Renen, who recently ended third in the 100-yard backstroke at the prestigious NCAA gala in the US, was second-fastest in 55.00.
The automatic qualifying time for the world championships in Singapore from July to August is 53.94.
Elsewhere the competitors were content to take it easier in the morning.
Aimee Canny was the quickest in the women’s 200m freestyle heats, stopping the clock exactly on 2min 00.00sec, with Rebecca Meder next best (2:01.66) followed by Dune Coetzee (2:02.57). The qualifying time they’re chasing there is 1:58.23.
Teenager Kris Mihaylov set the pace in the men’s race in 1:48.81, pushing Matthew Sates into second spot in 1:50.78. The automatic entry time for Singapore is 1:46.70.
Simone Moll was the fastest in the women’s 100m breaststroke in 1:08.49, ahead of Meder (1:08.51) and Kaylene Corbett (1:09.32). The Singapore standard is 1:06.87.
In the men’s race teenager Chris Smith was quickest as he won his heat in 1:01.02, well ahead of veteran Michael Houlie in 1:02.06. They need to get to 59.75.
In the women’s backstroke Jessica Thompson was quickest in 1:02.26, slightly ahead of Milla Drakoploulos in 1:02.46. The qualifying mark they are chasing is 1:00.46.
The evening session is scheduled to begin at 6pm.
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