South Africa’s Rebecca Meder returned to the podium at the second stop of the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup series in Westmont, Illinois over the weekend.
The 23-year-old added to her haul of two bronze medals from the first stop a week earlier with another bronze in the 200m breaststroke on Saturday.
Meder stopped the clock on 2 minutes 18.88 seconds to secure third spot behind Olympic champion Kate Douglass, who took the gold in 2:14.57 and her fellow American Alex Walsh, who just snuck the silver ahead of Meder in 2:18.54.
The New Zealand-based star, who reached all the finals of her respective events, finished fifth in the 100m breaststroke in 1:05.35. The race was won in 1:03.14 by Douglass, who also set a world record in the 100m freestyle over the weekend. Ireland’s Mona McSharry took silver in 1:04.18 and American Alex Walsh the bronze in 1:04.45.
After topping the time sheets in the heats of the 200m individual medley, Meder finished fifth in the final in 2:07.60. Gold was won by American Alex Walsh in 2:04.44, while silver went to Israel’s Anastasia Gorbenko in 2:04.93 and bronze to Britain’s Abbie Wood in 2:05.73.
Meder finished seventh in her other event of the meet – the 100m individual medley in 58.31 seconds. The race was won by American Gretchen Walsh in a World Cup record time of 55.77 seconds.
While her times weren’t quite as quick as they were at the opening stop of the series in Carmel, Meder was pleased with her overall performance, which saw South Africa finishing 18th on the medal table, thanks to her breaststroke bronze.
“It was another solid weekend of racing. Unfortunately, I started fighting a head cold on Wednesday, but I am grateful that I made finals for all of my races and finished 17th overall for this stop,” she said afterwards.
“The 200 and 100 breaststroke events are relatively new (I’ve only been racing them internationally for a year), so I am grateful for this experience where I get to race the world’s best and to learn and grow with every race. I am looking forward to another weekend of racing in Canada.”
The third and final stop of the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup series takes place in Toronto, Canada this week, from 23-25 October. Meder heads into the competition currently ranked 14th overall in the women’s World Cup standings.
Meder’s coach, Graham Hill, believes this experience racing against the likes Douglass and Walsh has been invaluable, saying: “Hopefully the race experience she will gain from the three stops will move her to another level when she races at some major competitions like Commonwealth Games and Olympics.”
starzen
The original cricket wickets used only two stumps over which a bail is attached. This design was changed in 1775 after an English cricketer, Lumpy Stevens, was able to bowl three consecutive balls that shot clear between the stumps. This is why modern wickets have three stumps instead of just two.
Instant Star
Sport Trivia: Which South African swimmer was the first woman ever to win both the 100m and 200m Olympic breaststroke event, this was achieved at the 1996 Olympics? Answer: Penny Heyns. Penny Heyns is regarded as one of the best breaststroke swimmers ever. At the Atlanta Olympics, she won her first gold for the 100 metres breaststroke in a world record time of 1:07:02 and her second gold in the 200 metres in an Olympic record time of 2:25:41.