16-Year-old Kris Mihaylov and 17-year-old Jessica Thompson both added their names to the list of swimmers headed for the World Short Course Championships in Budapest later this year after swimming the required qualifying times in Durban on Friday.
Mihaylov claimed victory in the 800m freestyle at the SA Short Course Championships at Kings Park pool in a time of 7 minutes 43.56 seconds, well under the qualifying time and four seconds clear of his nearest rival, while it was a slightly more roundabout route for Thompson.
The 17-year-old just missed out on the qualifying time in both the heats and final of the 50m butterfly on Thursday but returned on Friday to achieve it in a time trial in 25.76 seconds.
“I think I was really nervous – a lot of people were watching so I think it was just a big deal proving to myself that all the hard work and training that has gone into it has all paid off… I just had to trust myself and give it a shot,” said the Johannesburg swimmer.
Explaining what she had changed from her previous swims, Thompson added: “I just tried to take away a breath because I realised it was slowing me down a bit and my underwaters I’ve been training a lot, so I took an extra kick off the turn and I’m just so happy I executed that time, it’s been a great day.”
Later in the evening, Thompson added the 50m backstroke to her list of victories in Durban, winning in a time of 26.97 seconds, not far off the 26.54 needed for another qualifying time.
Mihaylov also claimed another title in the evening session, this time winning the 200m freestyle in 1:44.77.
Meanwhile, both Chad le Clos and Ruard van Renen continued to show their fine form at the championships. 21-year-old Van Renen added two more world championship qualifying times to his haul – in the 50m backstroke and the 100m butterfly.
He admitted the backstroke, which he won in 23.31 seconds, had taken him by surprise.
“Usually the 50 I just swim for fun, I wasn’t expecting any times,” he said afterwards. “It’s just kind of a primer race for tomorrow’s 100 backstroke so swimming that time was ridiculous.
“The 100 back is the main focus, that’s what I flew in for,” added the US-based rising star. “Anything that I picked up before that is a bonus.”
Van Renen’s second qualifier of the night was in the 100m butterfly, where he was once again up against veteran Le Clos, who pipped him to the 100m freestyle title on Thursday night.
Le Clos took the win in 49.50 seconds, his third qualifying time of the championships, with his young challenger second in 50.24.
“After this morning I would have been happy with a 50-low or 49-high so I was delighted with the time,” said Le Clos after the race. “It’s about a second off what I won it in two years ago so I’m very, very excited. But Ruard again, swimming 50.2… it’s great for the future of our sport.”
Van Renen was full of praise for Le Clos, saying: “I was just sticking next to Chad, sticking on his hip and he dragged me towards the end… Fly is Chad’s baby so you can’t really compare him to anything else… I know he wasn’t expecting me so I hope I pushed him a little bit too.”
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