30 Medals and Counting

South African swimmers contributed another four gold medals, and 13 in total, to Team SA’s collection at the African Games in Accra, Ghana on Monday.

Catherine van Rensburg kicked things off with gold in the 400m freestyle, claiming victory in 4 minutes 17.92 seconds with Hannah Mouton taking bronze in 4:22.89.

In the men’s event, young Pretoria swimmer Matthew Caldwell secured the silver in a time of 3:57.70 with Cameron Casali taking bronze in 3:58.73. Egypt’s Marwan Elkamash claimed gold in 3:51.79.

There was more gold to come for Team South Africa with Caitlin de Lange doing the honours in the 50m backstroke, finishing in an African Games record time of 28.76 seconds to edge out teammate and SA record holder Tayla Jonker who took the silver in 29.00. De Lange’s time beat the Games record set by Zimbabwean icon Kirsty Coventry in 2007.

“I think the team as a whole – we’re keeping each other motivated and the vibe is just so nice,” said De Langer afterwards. “The support is amazing and it makes me just want to push even harder.”

Jonah Pool-Jones finished in a dead heat with Algerian Abdellah Ardjoune in the men’s event with both swimmers powering to the finish 25.85 seconds to share the gold medal.

“I was seeded first this morning so I had the confidence to go and get the gold this afternoon,” said Pool-Jones. “I knew it was going to be tough and the guys were going to swim faster and funnily enough I tied first with the Algerian next to me so it was a really fun race.”

The women’s 4x200m freestyle relay team of Mouton, Leigh McMorran, Kate Meyer and Van Rensburg added the fourth gold of the night for the South Africans, finishing in 8:27.31, almost a full eight seconds clear of the chasing Egyptian team.

Meanwhile, Jarden Eaton was back on the podium on Monday – this time to collect the silver medal in the men’s 100m butterfly after finishing in 53.45. There was also a silver for Kate Meyer in the women’s 200m breaststroke after finishing in 2:35.35 with her teammate Georgia Els collecting the bronze in 2:37.17. Algerian Hamida Nefsi took the gold in 2:33.33.

Andrew Ross claimed bronze in the men’s 200m breaststroke in 2:18.20. He was back in action in the final event of the evening along with Tumelo Mahan, Casali and Caldwell with the South Africans collecting silver in the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay in 7:31.86 behind Egypt (7:27.62).

Swimming action continues in Accra on Tuesday with the competition wrapping up on Wednesday.

SA swimming medals at the African Games:

GOLD

1. Clayton Jimmie (100m freestyle)
2. Caitlin de Lange (100m freestyle)
3. Catherine van Rensburg (1500m freestyle)
4. Simone Moll (100m breaststroke)
5. Catherine van Rensburg (400m freestyle)
6. Cailtin de Lange (50m backstroke)
7. Jonah Pool-Jones (50m backstroke)
8. Mixed 4x100m freestyle relay (Cailtin de Lange, Georgia Els, Andrew Ross, Clayton Jimmie)
9. Mixed 4x100m medley relay (Tayla Jonker, Petrus Truter, Jarden Eaton, Caitlin de Lange)
10. Women’s 4x200m freestyle relay (Hannah Mouton, Leigh McMorran, Kate Meyer, Catherin van Rensburg)

SILVER

1. Matthew Caldwell (800m freestyle)
2. Leigh McMorran (200m butterfly)
3. Hannah Mouton (200m freestyle)
4. Georgia Els (100m breaststroke)
5. Caitlin de Lange (50m butterfly)
6. Tayla Jonker (200m backstroke)
7. Matthew Caldwell (400m freestyle)
8. Kate Meyer (200m breaststroke)
9. Talya Jonker (50m backstroke)
10. Jarden Eaton (100m butterfly)
11. Men’s 4x200m freestyle relay (Andrew Ross, Tumelo Mahan, Cameron Casali, Matthew Caldwell)

BRONZE

1. Liam Vehbi (200m butterfly)
2. Catherine van Rensburg (200m freestyle)
3. Andre Ross (200m freestyle)
4. Jarden Eaton (50m butterfly)
5. Helgaard Muller (200m backstroke)
6. Hannah Mouton (400m freestyle)
7. Cameron Casali (400m freestyle)
8. Georgia Els (200m breaststroke)
9. Andrew Ross (200m breaststroke)