Day five is a successful one for SA Swimmers

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Saturday, 18 September 2010 16:24

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SA Swimmers look to bring home more Gold than Silver

With 5 gold medals out of 5 races and 4 Championship Records, the fifth day of the 10th Senior African Swimming Championships in Casablanca, Morocco concluded on a high note for the South African swimming.

It all started with Wesley Gilchrist who broke Theo Verster’s eight year standing record in the 200m butterfly clocking 2:00.72. Wesley led from start to finish touching the wall 4 seconds ahead of Egypt’s Marwan Osman (2:04.08) and Mostafa Atef (2:06.00).

Then it was Mandy Loots’ turn, breaking her own Championship Record in the 200m individual medley in 2:16.77. Tunisia’s Sarra Lajnef (2:20.23) claimed the silver and South Africa’s Bianca Meyer finishing with the bronze in 2:20.52.

In the 100m backstroke, Darren Murray added another gold medal to the tally when he finished with a new Championship Record time of 55.67. Khaled Hussein Mohamed from Egypt followed with 58.09 and Tunisia’s Taki Mrabet in 58.58.

Karin Prinsloo’s quick start won her the gold in the 50m freestyle in 26.31 with Chanelle van Wyk claiming the bronze in 26.76.

To end of the evening, the South African quartet of Vanessa Mohr, Chanelle van Wyk, Kathryn Meaklim and Karin Prinsloo were simply unstoppable in the 4 x 100m medley relay breaking the six year standing Championship Record in a time of 4:09.53. The Moroccan team finished over 12 seconds behind the South Africans in 4:22.88 followed by Egypt in 4:23.38.

Medal rankings after Day 5: