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New benchmark for Olympic Agenda 2020

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International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach attended an IOC “debrief” on the Pyeongchang Winter Games and the Beijing 2022 Olympics here on Tuesday and expressed his confidence that Beijing 2022 will set a new benchmark for the Olympic Agenda 2020.

The debriefing, which will last for five days, includes strategic and operational sessions. It also officially kicks off what is known as the “New Norm“, which is the implementation plan of the Olympic Agenda 2020.

Even though the reforms of the Olympic Agenda 2020 came into effect after PyeongChang was selected as host city, the Organizing Committee did subsequently benefit from many of the Olympic Agenda 2020 recommendations. Lee Hee-beom, head of the PyeongChang 2018 Organizing Committee said on Monday that they managed to host a profitable Olympics.

“The debriefing showed that the reform of the Olympic Agenda 2020 now has really come to fruition. The most obvious is the announcement of PyeongChang 2018 that they had a multi-million dollar surplus,” Bach said at a press conference held after the strategic sessions concluded on Tuesday.

“It’s only possible because of the reforms of Olympic Agenda 2020 and the close cooperation with the IOC. There you can see the Olympic Agenda 2020 at work. We have turned the page with regard to the organization of the Olympics,” Bach added.

Beijing 2022 will be the first Winter Games to fully benefit from the reforms from its very outset. “There are two impressive highlights from Beijing. One is sustainability. You need to look around here at the Shougang Center, [to see the] the positive effect that awarding the Olympic Games had for this area,” Bach said.

The debriefing was held in the Shougang Industrial Park. The Shougang Group, one of China’s largest steel enterprises, put an end to its production in the park years ago and relocated the production base in a bid to implement the national strategy of structurally upgrading the steel industry in order to improve Beijing’s air quality, and support the preparations for Beijing 2008.

To promote the protection and utilization of the old industrial site, Beijing 2022 decided to base its head office in the Shougang Industrial Park, and now the workshops there have been transformed into modern office buildings.

“Chinese friends are not only talking the talk, but also walking the walk. They take sustainability really as a core issue for the organization of the Games,” Bach said.

“The other is feasibility. The Organizing Committee is working with high efficiency, while making all the potential savings the Olympic Agenda 2020 is offering, and keeping the Olympic spirit alive and respecting the athlete experience. We are very confident that Beijing will set a new benchmark benefiting for the first time from all the potential of the Olympic Agenda 2020 with regard to a great organization, offering the best opportunity for the athletes and in particular sustainability and feasibility,” he added.

PyeongChang kicked off an unprecedented three consecutive editions of the Olympic Games taking place here in Asia. With Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022 coming up, the Olympics are now in an entirely Asian cycle.

“In a way, having three Olympic Games in a row in Asia also tells us something about the vision that Asia has for the future. This vision is defined by ambition, confidence and a real can-do attitude to shape the future. Asia is looking to the future with a view to shape it for the better. As a European, I sometimes miss this Asian dynamism and faith in the future in my home continent. In Europe, it often seems that people look to the future with unease and hesitation,” Bach said.

“I hope the Europeans [are] coming back and learning from Asia. You have a good future only if you shape the future. You cannot sit there and wait for a better future,” Bach concluded.

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Fresh & Hungry – Daniel Kyle Billings

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Daniel Billings is one of SA’s top up and coming young athletes who is working extremely hard at his swimming to make it onto the world area. He is focused, versatile, humble and has great faith in God, his family and his couch.  He is proudly part the Team SA who will represent South African in Italy this July 2018 at the Tricolor Games in Reggio Emilia.

The latter city is also proudly the birth place of the beautiful Italian Flag and a special bond city between SA and Italy because of the Oliver Tambo and Giuseppe Soncini  lifelong friendship through the years of  political struggle and beyond. We wish you all the very best for Italy next month Daniel.

Daniel says about himself – “I AM A VERY COMPETATIVE PERSON, THEREFORE I FIND IT VERY HARD TO ACCEPT A LOSE SOMETIMES.  I AM A FUNNY BUT ALSO DEDICATED & DISCIPLINED SPORTSMAN AS I AM A VERY GOOD RUGBY PLAYER AS WELL.”

 

Athlete: Bio / Stats
Name & Surname DANIEL KYLE BILLINGS
Nick Name “DANNY  K”
Date of birth 16-07-2002
Place of birth JOHANNESBURG – GARDEN CITY CLINIC
Current City JOHANNESBURG
Height 1.86
Weight 75KG
Shoe Size 10
Club SUPERFINS
Coach’s Name RAMON COUTRIERS
Out of Country event TRI COLOUR GAMES – ITALY JULY 2018
Secondary Sport/ sports RUGBY
Favorite City SWITZERLAND
Favorite Song/ type of music HOUSE MUSIC – RESIDENT IN MY HEART BY LADY ZAMAR
Favorite Movie MONSTERS INC
School & Grade PARKTOWN BOYS HIGH SCHOOL – GRADE 10
Sponsors NONE CURRENTLY
Community / church projects involved in FAMILY WORKSHIP CENTRE – YOUTH GROUP
Parents Names, siblings JEFFERSON & RASHIDA, MEGAN (27), CALEB (17)

INTERVIEW:

Q: You are passionate and doing so well in your Swimming, tell me a little bit about how you started in Swimming and your journey in the Swimming arena up to now?

I STARTED SWIMMING AT THE AGE OF 7 BUT GOT ILL AND HAD TO STOP SWIMMING.  I STARTED AGAIN IN 2010 WHEN OUR SWIMMING CLUB WAS OFFICIALLY OPENED (SUPERFINS).

Q: Who are you? Describe yourself as a person.

I AM A VERY COMPETATIVE PERSON, THEREFORE I FIND IT VERY HARD TO ACCEPT A LOSE SOMETIMES.  I AM A FUNNY BUT ALSO DEDICATED & DISCIPLINED SPORTSMAN AS I AM A VERY GOOD RUGBY PLAYER AS WELL.

 I MUST ADD THAT TWO OF THE HIGHLIGHTS OF MY SPORTING THUS FAR WAS WHEN I WAS CHOSEN IN GRADE 6 TO PLAY FOR THE JUNIOR LIONS AND BEING AWARDED THE VICTOR LADORIUM TROPHY IN SWIMMING/SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR IN MY FIRST YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL AT ALLEN GLEN HIGH SCHOOL IN 2016.

Q: You have just participated in the OR Tambo Soncini  Social Cohesion Games and made the preliminary squad for the Tri Colour Games in Italy 2018. Congratulations. What is on your mind regarding the preparation lying ahead till the final team is selected?

THANK YOU.  THIS WILL BE MY FIRST OVER SEAS SPORTS TRIP THEREFORE I AM VERY EXCITED AND NERVOUS AS I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT.  I AM TRYING MY BEST BETWEEN THE RUGBY GAMES, GYM AND SWIMMING GYM AND GOING TO MY LOCAL GYM, IN ORDER TO BE IN BEST SHAPE FOR THE GAMES IN ITALY.

Q: Why do you have so much love and respect for your coach?

I HAVE SUCH LOVE AND RESPECT FOR MY COACH BECAUSE HE STARTED THE JOURNEY WITH ME AND HE BELIEVES IN ME.

Q: What is your favorite food? And who must cook it 🙂 ?

MY FAVOURITE FOOD IS PASTA AND MY MOTHER MUST COOK IT.

Q: So you swim well and are doing well in academics but name 1 thing that you suck at 🙂

I THINK I AM NOT A BRILLIANT ACADEMIC AS I SUCK AT DOING HOME WORK. I ALSO SUCK AT MAKING FOOD.

Q: What are you most grateful for in your life at the moment?

I AM GRATEFUL FOR MY PARENTS AND EXTENDED FAMILY FOR SUPPORTING ME IN EVERYTHING I DO AND ALWAYS TO GOD BECAUSE HE GIVES US STRENGHTH.

Q: What’s your WHY ?  Why do you do what you do?

I DO WHAT I DO TO BECOME A PROFESSIONAL SWIMMER FIRST, REPRESENT SOUTH AFRICA AS AN OLYMPIC SWIMMER.  I WOULD LIKE TO BE AN INFLUENCE ON THE YOUTH OF TODAY TO SHOW THEM THAT IF YOU WORK HARD, TRUST IN GOD YOU CAN ACHIEVE GREAT THINGS.  I ALSO WANT TO MAKE MY FAMILY PROUD OF ME.

Q: Anything else you would like to share?

I WOULD JUST LIKE TO ADD A QUOTE BY MY MENTOR MICHAEL PHELPS “IF YOU WANT TO BE THE BEST YOU HAVE TO DO THINGS OTHER PEOPLE ARE NOT WILLING TO DO”

Thank you so much for taking this interview. We would like to wish you all the best for your journey ahead. We look forward to following you as you go from strength to strength. Blessings!

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Fresh & Hungry – Caleb Billings

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Getting to the heart of Caleb Billings, a young and upcoming swimmer from Joburg. He is a dedicated and motivated young man who is willing to give his everything in pursuit of a high swimming dream. He has full realisation that big dreams like that are never easy but definitely worth it! There is is thirst within him to take his sport to the highest level and succeed and we wish him all the best for the journey ahead. He celebrates, respects and loves his swim Coach – Ramon Courtiers who drives them daily in the water. Regarding what he is most grateful for he says “FOR MY LIFE, FAMILY AND THE FACT THAT I HAVE A GREAT COACH AND WONDERFUL TEAM MATES”. 

 

Athlete: Bio / Stats
Name & Surname CALEB JEFFERSON JOE BASIL BILLINGS
Nick Name “CJ”
Date of birth 13-09-2000
Place of birth JOHANNESBURG – GARDEN CITY CLINIC
Current City JOHANNESBURG
Height 1.88
Weight 86KG
Shoe Size 11
Club SUPERFINS
Coach’s Name RAMON COUTRIERS
Out of Country events NONE CURRENTLY – JUST ACCOMPANYING MY BROTHER  TO HIS EVENT THIS YEAR TO THE TRI COLOUR GAMES IN ITALY
Secondary Sports I PLAY CRICKET AS WELL AS TRACK & FIELD AT SCHOOL
Favorite City SWITZERLAND
Favorite Song EMINEM – “LOSE YOURSELF”
Favorite Movie NOT ONE IN PARTICULAR
School & Grade PARKTOWN BOYS HIGH SCHOOL – GRADE 12
Sponsors NONE CURRENTLY
Twitter and Instagram names, facebook name Caleb_cvb_
Community / church projects involved in FAMILY WORSHIP CENTRE – YOUTH GROUP
Parents Names, siblings JEFFERSON & RASHIDA BILLINGS, SISTER – MEGAN (27) AND DANIEL (15)

INTERVIEW:

Q: You are passionate and doing so well in your Swimming tell me a little bit about how you started in Swimming and your journey in the Swimming arena up to now?

MY BROTHER DANIEL, ACTUALLY STARTED SWIMMING FIRST SO I DECIDED TO JOIN HIM.

Q: Who are you? Describe yourself as a person.

I AM A VERY FUNNY HARDWORKING PERSON.  IN FUTURE I WOULD LIKE TO CONTINUE ON BEING A HARD WORKER TO ACHIEVE MY GOAL.

Q: What is the highest accolade that you have achieved in Swimming and what is your greatest personal accomplishment?

I THINK IT WOULD BE MY MOTHER ARRANGING FOR ME AND MY BROTHER TO GET FULL SCHOLARSHIPS AT  PARKTOWN BOYS HIGH SCHOOL IN 2017 DUE TO OUR SWIMMING ACHIEVEMENTS.

Q: You have participated in the OR Tambo Soncini  Social Cohesion Games IN 2017.  Congratulations. What is on your mind regarding the preparation lying ahead till the final team is selected?

THE FINAL TEAM HAVE BEEN SELECTED AND I HAVE NOT BEEN CHOSEN, THIS IS JUST A BOOST TO ME NOW TO WORK EXTRA HARDER.

Q: Why do you have so much respect for your coach?

I HAVE SO MUCH RESPECT FOR MY COACH BECAUSE HE HAS HELPED ME REACH MY GOALS AND IS STILL HELPING ME TO REACH MY FUTURE GOALS AS A SWIMMER, THEREFORE I HAVE MUCH LOVE AND RESPECT FOR HIM.  HE IS JUST A GREAT COACH AND I WOULD NOT ASK FOR ANY OTHER COACH.

Q: So, you are a brilliant swimmer and academic – but name 1 thing that you suck at 🙂

I SUCK AT DRAWING, ART IS GENERALLY MY WEAKNESS.

Q: What are you most grateful for in your life at the moment?

FOR MY LIFE, FAMILY AND THE FACT THAT I HAVE A GREAT COACH AND WONDERFUL TEAM MATES.

Q: What’s your WHY ?  Why do you do what you do?

WHY I DO WHAT I DO IS BECAUSE I WANT TO BECOME AN OLYMPIAN AND WIN GOLD IN ALL MY EVENTS.  THE INFLUENCE I SEE MYSELF HAVING ON THE NATION’S YOUTH WOULD BE THAT NO MATTER YOUR BACKGROUND YOU SHOULD ALWAYS WORK HARD AND FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS.

 

Thank you so much for taking this interview. We would like to wish you all the best for your journey ahead. We look forward to following you as you go from strength to strength. Blessings!

 

Home Sports Swimming

Chad le Clos Academy Launched in Cape Town

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Taking a rounded approach to development, the new Chad le Clos Academy aims to transform the way swimming is taught in South Africa, from beginner through to elite level.
Launched in Cape Town on Friday, 20 April 2018, the structured and world-class CLeC Academy programme will ensure that swimmers enjoy the learning experience and remain in the sport for as long as possible.

Le Clos, a four-time Olympic medallist, says: “I’m very pleased that we are launching the first branch of the Chad le Clos Academy. I really want to see the growth of swimming as a sport, both in SA and ultimately across the world, by helping existing swimmers improve and encouraging beginners to learn our sport and develop life skills. This has been a dream of mine for some time, and today marks the start of what I hope will be a long and productive journey.”

Starting with a flagship venue at the Quadrant in Cape Town, the programme will focus on stroke development and fitness for swimmers aged five through to adults.
Future venues will also implement elite and learn to swim programmes by collaborating with the best in class partners and facilities, as the programme expands.

Kathryn Nurse, a CLeC Academy Director, says: “It is a privilege to partner with a sportsman of such high calibre and a gentleman of such true humility. We are confident that we can take his vision and make it a reality.”

As part of its long-term goals, the CLeC Academy plans to expand further by including international venues, in an attempt to broaden its reach as widely as possible and transform the world of swimming.

Chad le Clos board member, Julian Taylor, says: “As South Africa’s most decorated swimmer, Chad le Clos has already ensured he will always be remembered as an icon. Hopefully this academy will be able to play another key role in expanding his legacy at all levels of the sport, both at home and abroad.”

 

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Gold Coast 2018 – Wrap-Up

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Team South Africa wrapped up their Commonwealth Games campaign by finishing sixth on the overall table, with 13 gold, 11 silver and 13 bronze medals. GARY LEMKE gives his verdict as the curtain came down on the Gold Coast.

THE TOP 10 PERFORMERS
1 Caster Semenya (800m, 1500m)
There’s little doubt to even the most untrained eye that the 27-year-old is the most irresistible force in world athletics. She is, to put it bluntly, unbeatable. Her only opposition is the clock and in winning two gold medals, the 800m and 1500m, Semenya broke the Games record in both. She wasn’t pushed to the line in either, and in fact, the sight of her looking to the stands, to where her coach was sitting, for a couple of seconds while she was running her 800m heat, said it all. She’s an athlete at the top of her game. Again, the Australian media attempted to throw a cloud over her achievements by raising THAT old issue. Yawn. Get over it and enjoy an athlete at the peak of her powers. All that’s left now is for her to chase down the existing world records. We will not see another athlete like this for many years to come.

GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA – 13 April 2018: Caster Semenya during the 800m final at the Carrara Stadium at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast in Australia.
(Picture by Wessel Oosthuizen / SASPA)

2 Cameron van der Burgh (50m, 100m breaststroke, 4x100m medley)
Perhaps this high ranking will surprise people. Van der Burgh won the 50m breaststroke gold medal, retaining the title from Glasgow 2014. In doing so, he beat Adam Peaty. The 23-year-old Brit is the world record holder, world champion, Olympic 100m champion and hadn’t been beaten in a final for four years. It was the biggest upset in the swimming pool at these Games. Van der Burgh, who went on to get a bronze in the 4x100m medley relay, had vowed to finish his Games career on a high and he’d been consistent in saying that the race, under the open-air conditions at night, would not be ‘world record fast’. It would be ‘a racer’s race’. And he outraced Peaty by 0.04 seconds, touching in 26.58. Afterwards, Peaty said he ‘hadn’t been 100%, probably 90, 95%’. Cry me a river. Van der Burgh was the team leader out of the water and he put a few years of Peaty hurt behind him to win when it counted.

3 Tatjana Schoenmaker (100m, 200m breaststroke)
When I asked Schoenmaker what it felt like to be considered a ‘big fish’ in women’s swimming, she said she didn’t see herself as one, and that she would still have to watch her back at domestic level ‘because there are so many good breaststrokers coming through’. The 20-year-old doesn’t know how good she is – or that she stands on the brink of superstardom. In winning the 100m and 200m breaststroke, she broke the South African record in both, and she did the same thing in the 50m, where she placed fourth. Her favourite event is the 200m and she’s now ranked No 2 in the world. Her 100m gold placed her fourth in the world. Schoenmaker is a huge talent and will get significantly quicker. She lowered two of the great Penny Heyns’ personal bests and then modestly said that ‘Penny produced those times when not wearing goggles, so imagine how good she was’. Heyns was good, in fact, one of the breaststroke legends. Schoenmaker is just starting her journey and she’s got genuine superstardom written all over her.

4 Chad le Clos (50m, 100m, 200m butterfly, 100m freestyle, 4x100m medley)
What more can be said about the 25-year-old competing in his third Commonwealth Games and who has now collected 17 medals, one behind Australian shooter Phillip Adams’ all-time best. Le Clos will have to wait for Birmingham 2022 to surge past that tally and put it out of reach of anyone for decades to come. Le Clos picked up three gold medals, a silver and a bronze and paid the price for swimming two finals inside 20 minutes when tiring in the 200m freestyle final. I’ve slotted Le Clos in at No 4 for a number of reasons. One is that he’s a victim of his own brilliance. The 100/200m butterfly ‘double’ was, how should we say… expected, and he even broke the Games record in the 100m (50.65). He might forgive me for saying that he was gifted the 50m butterfly when favourite Ben Proud was disqualified in the heats and played no part in the final; he had comfortably beat Le Clos in that race. But, for me the 100m freestyle final and the 100m butterfly leg in the 4x100m medley relay – efforts which secured ‘only’ a silver and a bronze – were his best performances of the Games. He was just caught by the flying Scotsman, Duncan Scott, but finished ahead of Australia’s Olympic champion Kyle Chalmers and Cameron McEvoy. Le Clos is now regarded as one of the best 100m freestyle sprinters in the world. And, that was a huge statement for him to make in front of the Aussies, in their pool, in an event they are used to dominating over the years.

5 Akani Simbine (100m, 4x100m)
Two years ago in Rio, I had slotted Simbine in as high as No 3 on my ratings, despite being a non-medallist. I argued that he was the future of men’s sprinting and the man capable of taking gold at Tokyo 2020, given Usain Bolt wouldn’t be there. Sure I took flak, but Simbine continues to grow in front of our very eyes. He won the 100m gold medal, pulling home countryman Henricho Bruintjies for a famous South African 1-2, with Yohan Blake in third. What stops me from ranking Simbine’s gold higher than No 5 on this list is because of the quality of the field – and the time. In finishing fifth in the Rio Olympics, Simbine had clocked 9.94; here on the Gold Coast he claimed gold in 10.03, with Bruintjies taking silver in 10.17 and Blake the bronze in 10.19. Despite the retirement of Bolt, Simbine will know that in Tokyo he’s going to have to be churning out those sub-10 second times, perhaps even in the semi-final to qualify for the final. Obviously, he can’t do much more than win the race and take the gold, which he did. He re-appeared as the anchor in the 4x100m men’s relay and took South Africa from out of the medals to a silver, going past Blake as though the Jamaican was looking for parking.

6 Henri Schoeman (triathlon)
While it’s not as important as the Olympics, the entire team gets a lift when that first gold medal goes into the bank. It has a calming effect, settles the squad’s nerves in the athletes village and inspires many to go out and do the same for themselves and for South Africa. Which is why Schoeman’s opening day gold was so welcome, and significant. Before the event, it was countryman Richard Murray who the bookies had chalked up as the medal candidate, but on the day, Schoeman was magnificent. He stuck like glue to the front men after coming off the swim, on to the bike and then at the start of the run he made a break and never looked like being caught. It might have surprised some people, but not this 26-year-old. He was 16th in Glasgow’s Commonwealth Games, but won bronze at the Rio Olympics. Gold here on the Gold Coast has cemented his credentials and he’ll be another South African with his sights set on Olympic gold at Tokyo 2020.

7 Luvo Manyonga (long jump)
A leap of 8.37m had given him the silver medal at the Rio Olympics, but the 27-year-old is starting to make distances like that seem as though he’s stepping over a pool of water in the middle of the road. Manyonga took the lead in the final with a jump of 8.35m, but just as an exclamation mark he produced an 8.41m on his sixth and final jump. That became an official Games record and with Ruswahl Samaai (8.22m) taking the bronze, we saw yet another two South African brothers in arms celebrating in front of the crowd. Manyonga has serious BMT; the tougher it gets and the bigger the stage the more he revels in it. Given what he has overcome to be at this stage of his life, he’s cashing in on a second chance. It’s an unpredictable discipline but Manyonga is becoming a serial winner. He has spoken of breaking Mike Powell’s formidable world record of 8.95m. It was established 27 years ago – in Tokyo. Perhaps the planets are getting aligned for Manyonga to break that record… at Tokyo 2020.

8 Martin Erasmus (97kg freestyle wrestling)
Martin Who? Wrestling? Erasmus is a car parts salesman in Brakpan, and 97kg of solid prime beef. He manhandled India’s Mausam Khatri in winning the final and in the process he became the first South African to win a wrestling gold in 60 years. Like boxing, wrestling used to be a consistent conveyer belt for medals before South Africa was isolated, but in the post-apartheid era, big performances and medals have dried up in those two codes. His gold medal – as well as Hanru Botha’s 74kg silver – will do wonders for wrestling as a federation in South Africa, for now they can go with their cupped hands to ask for funds, which can help the likes of Erasmus and Botha going forward. Or, perhaps the federation should just send Erasmus himself to knock on the door of the fund distributors…

9 Jonathan Ntutu (athletics, T12 100m)
Yet another South African 1-2 as Ntutu (11.02) led home Hilton Langenhoven, whose 11.27 for silver was a season’s best for him. The downside, if that term can be used, is that there were ‘only’ four athletes lining up in the final, so gold and silver was widely predicted. Both are close off the track as well and are popular figures in the athletes village. Ntutu doesn’t lack for confidence; he has a ‘Usain Bolt’ preparation when he’s getting ready for the blocks, but he backs up his confidence by producing the good in the race itself!

10 Alan Hatherley (mountain bike cross-country)
Cycling produced two bronze medallists at these Games – with Clint Hendricks also sprinting to third place at the end of the men’s road race. It’s tough determining which of the two would claim the 10th spot on this list but Hatherley just edges it. He broke his arm in February and was in a race against time to get fit. In the race itself, it quickly sorted itself out into a three-man lead group of New Zealand’s Sam Gaze and Anton Cooper and Hatherley, who put plenty daylight between themselves and the rest. On a tough course, Hatherley refused to be broken and the 22-year-old showed true grit to go with the deep reservoir of talent that he possesses to pick up the country’s first-ever Games medal in this event.

THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY
Nicolene Neal and Colleen Piketh were leading 13-5 with five ends to go in their match for lawn bowls gold against Malaysia in the women’s pairs. Agonisingly, that lead started to get eaten into, and against all odds, Malaysia found themselves two shots up with one end left. South Africa could only draw one shot and went down 15-14, the gold medal slipping out of their hands. There was disbelief in the crowd and afterwards, both South Africans were wiping away a tear. ‘It’s the high… and then the low… and we all know that women are emotional,’ said Neal.

ALL THE MEDALLISTS
Gold: Akani Simbine (100m), Luvo Manyonga (long jump), Jonathan Ntutu (T12 100m), Caster Semenya (800m, 1500m), Chad le Clos (50m, 100m, 200m butterfly), Cameron van der Burgh (50m breaststroke), Tatjana Schoenmaker (100m, 200m breaststroke), Henri Schoeman (triathlon), Martin Erasmus (97kg freestyle)
Silver: Henricho Bruintjies (100m), Team SA (4x100m men), Hilton Langenhoven (T12 100m), Dyan Buis (T38 100m), Women’s Fours bowls, Women’s Pairs bowls, Mixed B2/B3 Pairs bowls, Chad le Clos (100m freestyle), Brad Tandy (50m freestyle), Christian Sadie (50m S7 freestyle), Hanru Botha (74kg freestyle wrestling)
Bronze: Reinhardt Hamman (F38 shot put), Ruswahl Samaai (long jump), Charl du Toit (T38 100m), Wenda Nel (400m hurdles), Sunette Viljoen (javelin), Alan Hatherly (mountain biking cross-country), Clint Hendricks (men’s road race), Open B6/B7/B8 Triples bowls, Colleen Piketh (women’s singles bowls), Cameron van der Burgh (100m breaststroke), Team SA 4x100m medley relay, Ryan Coetzee (50m butterfly), Mona Pretorius (weightlifting 53kg)
*SA brought 17 para-athletes to these Games, 10 of whom won a medal.

CODES TO WIN MEDALS
14 – Athletics
12 – Swimming
5 – Bowls
2 – Cycling, Wrestling
1 – Triathlon, Weightlifting

BEST QUOTE
‘No, it was not much of a shock. Not for me, my coach and my team. I knew I had to run the perfect race to come out on top, and that I had to put together my race and if I had a clean first 30 metres and then 60m. So, maybe for others it was a shocker, but not for me, my coach or my team.’ Akani Simbine on winning 100m gold, leaving Yohan Blake in third place.

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT …
It’s probably unfair to single out any one team, or individual, so we won’t. But, we need to talk about a couple of things. What has happened to our amateur boxing? Again, only two representatives and again, no tangible reward for their efforts. LJ van Zyl, the 32-year-old 400m hurdles veteran, failed to qualify for the heats. It is not for the first time he disappointed on the big stage and perhaps this was his last hurrah. South Africa’s men’s hockey team? Beaten 4-2 by Scotland, 4-0 by Australia, 6-0 by New Zealand and 3-2 by Wales to finish 10th, the only win came against Canada (2-0). Serious questions have to be asked and proper answers must be produced for the game to move forward. There’s too big a disconnect from schoolboy, to club, to provincial to international level. A medal was expected from our men’s Sevens, given their status on the World Series. They reached the semi-finals by beating Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and Scotland but defeats to Fiji and then England saw them go home empty-handed.

HAPPY HOUR
9 April. When Team SA delivered four gold medals on one of the greatest nights in South African sporting history. At 9.07pm (local time) Cameron van der Burgh won 50m breaststroke gold. At 9.12pm Tatjana Schoenmaker won 100m breaststroke gold. At 9.59pm Chad le Clos won 100m butterfly gold. At 10.15 Akani Simbini won the 100m track sprint. Boom!

THE TRYING GAMES
Weightlifter Mona Pretorius was competing in her fourth Comonwealth Games after debuting at Melbourne in 2006, where she finished fourth after delivering two personal bests. Injury wrecked her Delhi 2010 chances and a blow-out came at Glasgow 2014‚ but at the Gold Coast, the 29-year-old produced a 91kg snatch and 115kg clean and jerk — each 7kg better than she’d managed before — for a total of 206 behind Canada’s Maude Charron‚ who won with a 220kg Games record.

THE UNSEEN GOLD
Behind every successful team there’s the support staff and Team SA sent a squad that handled the logistics with aplomb. The physios and medical staff did their jobs to perfection, while the logistics of sorting out travel arrangements and ‘special requests’ went off well as the men behind the scenes played a full role in Team SA’s success. And, whoever was involved in the team kit – Natalie du Toit and the athletes’ commission? – take a bow. After the embarrassments of previous Commonwealth and Olympic Games, Mzansi’s athletes looked the part, proving that it’s the small things that help complete the big picture.

PLAYING AWAY FROM HOME
Many athletes turned to Tinder to get rid of excess energy while they were at the Games. Northern Irish triathlete James Edgar’s profile said he ‘can go all night long’, while others made similar promises. There were a couple of South Africans with active profiles, one asking, ’is 69 Down Under called a 96?’ while another reckoned he wanted to meet ‘some wild troopers’.

Photo: Caster Semenya by Wessel Oosthuizen

 

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Gold Coast 2018 – Day 10

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Team South Africa started the penultimate day of activities with 35 medals in the bag. Here’s how they fared on Saturday, 14 April.

South Africa’s Akani Simbine, Anaso Jobodwana, Henricho Bruintjies, Emile Erasmus celebrate with their flag after the athletics men’s 4x100m relay final during the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games at the Carrara Stadium on the Gold Coast on April 14, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / SAEED KHAN (Photo credit should read SAEED KHAN/AFP/Getty Images)

ATHLETICS
Men’s 4x100m Relay, Final: Individual 100m gold medallist Akani Simbine anchored the SA quartet to a new national record as they ended second to England. Henricho Bruintjies led off and Emile Erasmus took over down the back straight. Anaso Jobodwana had plenty of work to do but made up some ground before handing over to Simbine. Simbine seared down the home straight and picked off Australian Josh Clarke who was rocking and rolling. More impressively he hauled in Jamaica’s Yohan Blake to secure the silver medal behind England (38.13). At the line Simbine was the fastest man on the track. The 38.24 time by SA smashes the old record of 38.35 set at the last Games in Glasgow. Simbine and Bruintjies were both part of that team.
Men’s Javelin, Final: Phil-Mar van Rensburg opened with a solid 77.00 and followed up with 79.83m. But that was to be his best of the day on a hot afternoon at the Carrara Stadium. That 79.83 put him in fourth place 82.20, 2.37m off the bronze medal throw. ‘My start was OK and I felt everything was there, the crowd was electric, experience was great but on the day the body just didn’t fire. The problem was the block on my left side gave in. I felt like I had an 82m plus throw in my but it just didn’t work out. It’s still early in the season – this is only my third competition of the year – so let’s just hope to build from here.’

CYCLING
Men’s Road Race, Final: Bronze! 26-year-old Paarl cyclist Clint Hendricks sprinted to the bronze medal in the men’s road race when he took third in a photo finish behind Australia’s Steele von Hoff and Welshman Jonathan Mould. The first nine cyclists were credited with the same time, 3:57:01, and Hendricks just got his wheel in front of Northern Irishman Mark Downey where it counted most. It was Team SA’s 37th medal of the Games, and their 13th bronze up to that stage. Brendon Davids was credited with 18th position, some 57 seconds off the front, with Bradley Potgieter 27th (+2:07). Further back in 38th was Nicholas Dlamini (+2:38), while Nolan Hoffmann did not finish.

DIVING
Women’s 3m Springboard, Preliminaries: Julia Vincent was the only one of three SA competitors to make it through to the evening final, and it was by the thickness of her costume! The Rio Olympian and top-10 world championships finisher scored 229.50 to be the 11th and second last qualifier. Nicole Gillis (221.15) and Micaela Bouter (213.70) failed to make it through.

Women’s 3m Springboard, Final: South Africa’s leading diver, Julia Vincent placed sixth with a score of 291.45. The only one of three SA divers to make the final, the US-based athlete ended behind three Aussies and two Canadians, one of whom, Jennifer Abel, won with a score of 366.95.

RUGBY SEVENS
Men’s Pool A: South Africa opened the defence of their Commonwealth title with an easy run-out against Malaysia. Up 22-0 at the break they fell one short of doubling that score by the full-time whistle (43-0). Six players shared the seven tries scored, with Justin Geduld the highest points scorer with two tries and two conversions.In South Africa’s second game, their defence was once again watertight as the beat Papua New Guinea 52-0 with Rosco Spekman and Ruhan Nel both getting two tries apiece. The Blitzboks last game was a late-night affair against Scotland and they won 27-5 as Specman, Nel, Justin Geduld and Cecil Afrika all contributed.
Women’s Pool A: The national women’s side lost their final pool game when they went down 19-10 to Kenya. Trailing 14-0 at halftime they at least had the consolation of outscoring their fellow Africans 10-5 in the second half. The tries came from Mathrin Simmers and Zenay Jordaan. On Friday they lost their first two games to Canada and New Zealand. Coach Paul Delport’s side will now play off for positions 5-8 on Sunday.

 – South Africa’s men’s and women’s teams both play Fiji on Sunday, the final day of the Games. Team South Africa are only in action in sevens. The women play Fiji in a fifth-eighth place play-off while the men take on Fiji in semi-final action. The games are 1.30am SA time (9.31am Gold Coast time) and 4.05am (12.05pm) respectively.

SHOOTING

Queen’s Prize Individual Finals, Day Three: Petrus Haasbroek ended 11th after three tough days of shooting. His score was 399-45VBulls while compatriot Jacobus du Toit ended 20th with a score of 393.33VBulls. Winner was England’s David Luckman who compiled a tally of 404-49VBulls.

TABLE TENNIS

Men’s TT6-10 Singles, Bronze Medal Match: Theo Cogill lost his quest for a medal when he went down to Joshua Stacey. The Welshman won in five games, 3-2 the final scoreline with game scores being 11-8 4-11 6-11 13-11 8-11.

WRESTLING
Men’s Freestyle (86kg) 1/8 Final: Team South Africa’s grapplers were unable to build on the heady highs of Martin Erasmus’ gold medal on Friday when Michael Gaitskill lost his opening bout. He went down to Alexander Moore, losing out to the Canadian on a technical superiority decision (12-2 on technical points). Gaitskill’s defeat means SA have finished their action in this code – highlight being Martin Erasmus’ gold in the 97kg division on Friday!

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Gold Coast 2018 – Day 9

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Team South Africa started the day with 32 medals in the bag and three days of competition left at the 2018 Games. Here’s what happened on, hopefully a lucky rather than unlucky, Friday, 13 April.

ATHLETICS
Men’s 4x100m Relay, Heat 1: Team South Africa’s quartet safely put themselves in contention for yet another medal when they won their heat at the Carrara Stadium. The team of 100m silver medallist Henricho Bruintjies, Emile Erasmus (brought in specifically for relay duty), Anaso Jobodwana and 100m gold medallist Akani Simbine raced to a time of 38.71sec (not that far off the national mark of 38.35) as they won the first of two heats. Australia were second in a season’s best 38.79. The second heat was where the powerhouses lurked and England (38.15), Jamaica (38.44) and Nigeria (38.52) all posted times quicker than SA ahead of Saturday afternoon’s final showdown.

GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA – APRIL 13: Akani Simbine of South Africa, Anaso Jobodwana South Africa, Henricho Bruintjies of South Africa and Emile Erasmus of South Africa look on after the Men’s 4×100 metres relay heats during Athletics Track & Field on day nine of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games at Carrara Stadium on April 13, 2018 on the Gold Coast, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Men’s javelin, Qualifying: Phil-Mar van Rensburg did what he needed to do to qualify for the final on Saturday. Automatic qualification was 78.00 metres and the big man from Tzaneen did exactly that, right down to the last centimetre. He advances into the 12-man final with the seventh best distance as Aussie Hamish Peacock led the way with a throw of 81.22m. There’s definitely a South African connection to this event. Former world champion Marius Corbett still holds the Games record with the 88.75m he threw in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 20 years ago. ‘All I wanted to do was qualify,’ said 28-year-old Van Rensburg. ‘I felt nice and solid, job done. The final is going to be great and this crowd is electric.’ What will it take to medal: ‘Definitely an 81+ but the conditions will be right for big throws. There are a few big names here so I’ll have to produce.
Women’s 800m Final:  Probably South Africa’s banker for gold at these Games, Caster Semenya didn’t disappoint as she led from start to finish and won in a new Games record of 1min 56.68sec. Always in complete control she even took the lead from the gun. She took the bell at 58.66sec, meaning the record was on. And so it proved to be as she smashed the 1:57.35 set by Seychelles athlete Joanna Houareau back at the 2002 Games in Manchester.
Men’s 1000m final: ‘Veteran’ Stephen Mokoka has been around the block a few times (and more than a few laps) when it comes to big international events. The two-time Olympian placed fifth on a muggy Gold Coast evening as Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegui won in a Games record  27:19.62. But Mokoka fought his usual brave fight and was pleased with a season’s best time of 27:44.58. ‘I think I ran well in terms of pace judgement tonight and I think it’s my second fastest time overseas. Coming from the world half-marathon championships I didn’t really have time to do speed work. Thanks to SASCOC for giving me the opportunity to represent my country and I’m looking forward to the future.’

BOWLS
Women’s Pairs, Final: Nicolene Neal and Colleen Piketh won silver for Team South Africa but it could have been so much better. The two were leading Malaysia’s Emma Firyana Saroji and Siti Zalina Ahmad until the 16th end, having lead by 12-3 at one stage (the 10th). But from the 12th to the 16th the SA pair were only add two shots to their score as the Malaysian added 10 of their own for the narrowest of wins, 15-14.

DIVING
Women’s 1m springboard preliminary: All three of the South Africans qualified for the final later on Friday: The trio are all based around the United States at various colleges and universities. Rio Olympian Julia Vincent was best on the morning, her score of 260.95 making her third best qualifier behind two Australian divers. Nicole Gillis (231.90) and Micaela Bouter (230.75) were 10th and 11th respectively and will also compete on Friday evening.

GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA – APRIL 13: Julia Vincent of South Africa competes in the Women’s 1m Springboard Diving Preliminary on day nine of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games at Optus Aquatic Centre on April 13, 2018 on the Gold Coast, Australia. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)

Women’s 1m springboard, Final:
South Africa’s leading diver, Julia Vincent ended up one place short of the podium as she finished fourth with a score of 247.40, with the bronze medal won in 252.95. Fellow South Africans Micaela Bouter and Nicole Gillis were 10th and 11th respectively with scores of 217.25 and 210.95. Vincent was hurting but hardened by her competition. ‘This one is a tough loss for me, I ended five points off a medal. I’m disappointed but trying to be at peace about it. Sometimes the greatest lessons are the toughest ones to learn and although I won’t dwell on this loss, I won’t forget it either. I have to believe I have better things coming my way, as long as I learned from the mistake I made tonight. I’m proud to be able to dive for South Africa and I’m proud of both my teammates for making it back for the final tonight. I hope for stronger day tomorrow.’

RHYTHMIC GYMNASTICS
Women’s Ball, Final: Grace Legote ended seventh of eight finalists with a score of 12.150 as Cypriot gymnast Diamanto Evipridou won with a tally of 13,800 and finished in the top three of the hoop, ball, club and ribbon competitions.

HOCKEY

Men’s Play-off, 9th and 10th: South Africa wrapped up their Games campaign with a narrow 2-3 loss to Wales. Ryan Crowe had got the South Africans up and running with a goal in the 19th minute before Wales struck back with goals in the 27th and 42nd minutes. Dayaan Cassiem levelled things up in the 46th. So Mark Hopkin’s team will leave Australia with 10th spot but as the coach pointed out earlier in the tournament, this a super-exciting young side with unlimited talent. The trick will be keeping this squad together and growing them going forward!

Women’s Play-off, 5th and 6th: South Africa lost their final match, against Canada, 3-1. There was much added interest in this game as the Canadians were coached by former SA men’s player and women’s team coach, Giles Bonnet. On this occasion he emerged with bragging rights as Canada scored their first after 10 minutes and added further goals in the 15th and 48th minutes. There was late consolation for South Africa when Cape Town’s Candice Manuel scored in the 55th minute. SA end sixth, a position that doesn’t make Manuel happy. ‘This is not the result we wanted . We left it rather late into the second half before we started competing with Canada. We needed to be consistent both in this game and the whole tournament. But today we lacked that and only started bringing the pressure and the SA-style, which we know, late into the second half. It’s unfortunate for us to end sixth and we’re disappointed. Overall that’s not where we wanted to end. From here we have to learn lessons, grow and just end better next time.’

RUGBY SEVENS
Women, Pool A: South Africa got their Games campaign underway on this the third last day of the Games. They went down 29-0 to Canada. The northern hemisphere team was up 24-0 at half-time and it looked like a beating was on the cards but the South Africans managed to limit the damage to just one try after half time.
Women, Pool A: New coach Paul Delport could only look on as his women’s team were over-run by the powerful Kiws to the tune of 41-0. Halftime was 22-0 and the SA women will be keen to at least get on teh board in their next pool match, which is against continental counterparts Kenya.

TABLE TENNIS

Men’s TT 6-10, Semi-finals: Theo Cogill went down to England’s Kim Daybell in an action-packed affair at Oxenford Studios complex. Cogill lost the first game 8-11 but took the second with the same scoreline. Daybell got the third 11-5 but again Cogill fought back to make it 2-2 with an 11-6 scoreline. Daybell took the final game 11-6. But Cogill is not out of things and will now contest the bronze medal play-off.

WRESTLING
Men’s Freestyle, 1/8 Final (65kg): Terry van Rensburg lost to Nigeria’s Amas Daniel with a 9-0 points decision.
Men’s Freestyle, 1/8 Final (97kg): Martin Erasmus downed Samuel Belkin of New Zealand by virtue or a technical superiority decision, amassing a total of 10 technical points. He then went on to beat Aussie Nicolaas Verreynne in the quarters and Canada’s Jordan Steen in the semi-finals to set up a gold-medal match against India’s Mausam Khatri
Men’s Freestyle, Final (97kg): GOLD! Erasmus fought his way to South Africa’s 11th gold medal at these Commonwealth Games.  He beat India’s Khatri on a superior technicality scoreline, the margin being 12-2. A great victory for the SA strongman, one of the quietest, most humble gold medal winners you’ll ever see. Erasmus gave a hint of things to come when he won senior gold at the African Championships in Nigeria earlier this year. ‘I’m so proud,’ said code manager Nico Coetzee, one of SA wrestling’s true servants. ‘I’m obviously very happy … we’ve worked for this for the two previous Commonwealth Games. We narrowly missed previously it but won a couple of silvers and today we got it right. This young man has a brilliant future and so do a couple of the youngsters her. They maybe didn’t get medals but we are working in the right direction. I’m extremely proud of this team and so grateful of all the support from each and every one in Team SA. It’s lovely to share this with SA and make you proud.’ The gold medal immediately pushed Team SA further ahead of New Zealand on the medals table. SA now sit fifth with 12 gold medals, two more than the Kiwis

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Gold Coast 2018 – Day 8

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Team SA: How they fared

After seven days of action, Team South Africa started the day with 26 medals in the bag, 10 of them gold. Here’s what happened on Thursday, 12 April as they went digging for more gold.

ATHLETICS
Men’s T12 100m, Round One: Hilton Langenhoven and Jonathan Ntutu won their respective heats to progress to the final. Both flew out the blocks and never looked like getting caught. Langenhoven’s 11.27 was a season’s best for him, while Ntutu’s victory in 10.80 was a Games record and a season’s best.
Final: Jonathan Ntutu blitzed to South Africa’s first gold medal of the day, leading from start to finish in a time of 11.02. He was followed across the line a quarter of a second later by fellow South African Hilton Langenhoven to make it a 1-2 for the rainbow nation. ‘I just focused on getting out of the blocks quickly,’ said Ntutu, who wanted to play cricket as a youngster but switched to athletics as he had difficulty seeing the ball. ‘I tried to stay calm and not think about emulating my race this morning. Aaah the feeling of winning gold is awesome, awesome although it will probably only really sink in later.’ Ntutu said they had been extra motivated after Akani Simbine and Henricho Bruintjies had won gold and silver in the men’s 100m earlier in the week. ‘We definitely also wanted to get 1-2 for South Afria as well here,’ he said.’ As for Langenhoven: ‘Gold and silver from Akani and Henricho was something special for South Africa and it gave us goosebumps. We were convinced we’d get gold and silver but just didn’t know what order,’ he laughed. ‘It’s something lovely that Jonny and I will be able to sit down and chat about one day.’ It’s his second silver medal, having also won silver (in the 400m) in Melbourne 12 years ago.

Jonathan Ntutu and Hilton Langenhoven – Gold and Silver respectively

Women’s 800m, Heats: Using the race to shake the 1500m efforts out of her legs, having won gold in that event, Semenya cruised into the final and dipped under two minutes at the same time, crossing the line in 1:59.26. She was the fastest qualifier heading into Friday night’s final.
Women’s 400m hurdles, Final: Wenda Nel raced to her first Commonwealth Games medal, making up for the disappointment of being disqualified in the final in Glasgow, Scotland four years ago. She took bronze in 54.96, a bit slower than her time in the heat. Jamaica’s Janieve Russell won in 54.33 with Eilidh Doyle of Scotland second in 54.80, her second successive Games silver medal. ‘The tears will come,’ said Nel afterwards. ‘But they’ll be tears of joy. I just raced for that line. I went out very hard because I wanted to push my body as much as I can. It wasn’t a perfect race but I still finished strongly, even though I nearly fell at that last hurdle… not a nice feeling!’
Men’s 200m final: Clarence Munyai was a shadow of the man who looked a million dollars in the heat and even in the semi-final after he had slowed drastically in the closing stages. He was never really in contention for a medal and ended fifth in 20.58 in a race won by Englishman Zarnel Hughes (20.12). ‘I hurt my hamstring a bit in the semi and it’s very painful now… and those guys were very quick tonight. I’m just happy to reach and finish my first major international 200m final.’

BADMINTON

Women’s doubles, Round of 16: South Africa’s Michelle Butler-Emmett and Elmé de Villiers ended the rainbow nation’s campaign in this code at the Games. They went down 2-0 (21-9 21-9) to Thilini Pramodka and Kavidi Sirimannage of Sri Lanka, with all the action over in 22 minutes. Credit to the South Africans for putting up as much of a fight as they did as De Villiers was taking strain from an injured ankle.

BOWLS
Women’s Pairs, Quarter-finals: South Africa’s Nicolene Neal and Colleen Piketh had a close 14-12 win over Sophie Tolchard and Natalie Chesney. For much of the mid-section of the game they played second fiddle and at one stage were 11-5 down at the 13th end. It was all square at 11-11 at the 16th. Three shots picked up at the next end were enough to get them over the line.
Men’s Fours, Section B, Round 5: South Africa’s Gerry Baker, Jason Evans, Rudi Jacobs and Morgan Muvhango) were on the wrong end of a lop-sided 27-6 scoreline against Australia. Down 3-0 after the first end there was no stage that they managed to even pull level as Australia won going away after 14 ends.
Men’s singles, Quarter-finals: Petrus Breitenbach went down to Ryan Bester as the Canadian won 21-9. Breitenbach was first on the scoring board but by the 12th end he was already 14-5 in arrears and failed to get out double figures.
Mixed B6/B7/B7 Bronze  medal match: Another bronze medal came South Africa’s way as Tobias Botha, Willem Viljoen, Christopher Patton beat their English opponents. It was only on the fifth end that SA took the lead and they went on to win 16-13 as they were never headed after that juncture.
Women’s Pairs, Semi-final A: Colleen Piketh and Nicolene Neal combined to beat Scotland and book their place in the final and the chance to win gold.  Down 4-0 after the third they moved into the lead at the 10th and were never headed from that point onwards.

CYCLING
Women’s mountain bike (cross-country):  South Africa’s Mariske Strauss and Cherie Redecker finished seventh and 11th respectively on the testing Naranga Forest Course. Strauss ended 4min 48sec behind England’s gold medallist, Annie Last, the same rider who partnered her in the recent Cape Epic seven-day event. Germany-based Redecker punctured fairly early on and was never able to make up the lost ground and was +10:52 back. This is a brutal, unforgiving sport, and both South Africans were reduced to tears afterward as the race stress drained from them. Said Strauss: ‘I had a terrible start so I think I pushed a bit hard and ended up going too deep and struggled. It was a tough day out but we’ll keep on fighting.’ Strauss raced the gruelling Cape Epic seven-day event which ended less than three weeks ago and says she may have felt it. ‘Yeah, the legs were a little bit fried as it’s been a long month’s racing. But still, well done to all the winners today.’ For Redecker there was both sadness and happiness. ‘I had a great start, was feeling amazing. I had good rhythm and was catching the girls but then on the second lap and quite far out, I got a puncture. I plugged it and bombed it but not hard enough and it was softening so team mechanic JP Jacobs changed my wheel very quickly. I tried to relax and catch but just couldn’t close that gap. But the support was amazing. I’ve rediscovered my love and joy for this sport now that I’m more settled in Germany. I have to thank the incredible support from my coach, family, friends, Team SA, SASCOC, Cycling SA and manager Erica Green – they’ve all been brilliant. Now it’s back to Germany and then back to Egypt for the African Championships next weekend.’

Men’s mountain bike (cross-country): Alan Hatherly rode his way to South Africa’s first ever Commonwealth Games medal when he ended third to take bronze in a titantic struggle against a powerhouse New Zealand team. Kiwi Sam Gaze, the man who beat Hatherly into silver at last year’s World U23 MTB cross-country championships, did it again, his time 1hr 17min 36sec. Fellow New Zealander Anton Cooper was given the same time and Hatherly was 20sec down. Cooper was defending Games champion. Hatherly, the 2014 African Youth Games champion, went into the race on the back of a race-to-fitness, having broken his arm as recently as February. ‘Wow, I’m so stoked with this,’ said the normally reserved 22-year-old. ‘Obviously I was aiming for a medal but to get a medal at this level is huge, racing the best in the world. It’s a super hard course! I was racing with Anton and around halfway Sam had a bit of problem and lost probably 5sec but he was chasing hard and although I tried to go harder on the descents my arms were taking a bit of strain and when he came back past I didn’t get in the way, out of respect and also knowing that he had a big medal chance and I wasn’t right on Anton’s wheel at the time. Also, in the World Cup we’re teammates at Specialized Racing so I didn’t want to be THAT guy who held him up.’ Like Redecker, Hatherly heads to Egypt for next weekend’s African championships but first thanked the team who got him here. ‘Obviously thanks to the family, my girlfriend, Jade Sanders, my mechanic JP Jacobs, Team Spur, Team SA and everyone who played a part in this medal.’

GYMNASTICS
Rhythmic, Individual All-Around Final: Grace Legote ended 13th in a field of 16 with a score of 42.900 and compatriot Chris-Marie van Wyk was 16th with a tally of 36.500. Legote’s best score came in the ribbons with a 11.400 and Van Wyk’s best routine was the hoop where she scored 10.00.

NETBALL
Fifth/Sixth place play-off: Fifth! South Africa stretched away in the final quarter to secure fifth spot at these Games when they beat Uganda 53-42. There had only been four goals in it approaching the final quarter, but South Africa put their foot on the accelerator, to win the quarter 14-7 and end with an 11-goal victory. Uganda had fought back in the second quarter, to edge it 15-13, which left SA up 24-22 at halftime. However, they got stronger as the match progressed to run out comfortable winners. Ine-Mari Venter couldn’t do anything wrong, converting 42 of her 46 attempts into goals, while Maryka Holtzhausen (11 from 12) was the other player on the scoresheet.

PARA TABLE TENNIS

Men’s TT6-10 Singles, Group 2: Theo Cogill enjoyed an easy 3-0 win over home favourite Barak Mizrachi. Cogill was always in command and won 11-4, 11-3, 11-6. At no stage was he any further than one point behind and cashed in on Mizrachi’s service game, taking 19 points off the Australian’s serve.

SHOOTING
Queen’s Prize Individual Finals: Petrus Haasbroek ended seventh with a score of 253-32V-Bulls with compatriot Jacobus du Toit 20th with a tally of 249-21. After two days of shooting, Australia’s Jim Bailey continues to make the running. He leads with a score of 255-37.

WRESTLING

Men’s Freestyle 74kg 1/8 Final: Johannes Botha reached the semi-finals when he beat Abdulai Salam, of Sierra Leone, on technical superiority, 12 points to 2.
Men’s Freestyle 74kg 1/4 Final: Botha continued his strong form with an impressive technical superiority win by him. At the end of the contest he was 10-0 ahead over Wales’ Curtis Dodge.
Men’s Freestyle 74kg Semi-final: And it’s gold or silver for Botha, who reached the final with a fall victory over Nigeria’s Ebiniemfaghe Assizecourt, after having an 11-8 technical points lead at the time. He takes on Indian Kumar Sushil in the final.
Men’s Freestyle 74kg Final: It was one-way traffic in the final and unfortunately for South Africa, it all went against Botha. Sushil was far too good on the night and raced into a 10-0 lead in the first period which meant the contest was halted. Still, it’s a silver for Botha.
Men’s freestyle (57kg) Quarter-final: Richards Bay strongman Kleinjan Combrinck went down 6-1 on points to Canadian opponent Steven Takahashi
Men’s freestyle (57kg) Repechage, Round 2: Combrinck progressed to the next round with a bye. He will take on Ebikewenimo Welson of Nigeria for the bronze medal.
Men’s freestyle (57kg) Bronze medal: Combrinck went down on points to Welson, losing out 5-2.

Compiled by Mark Etheridge and Gary Lemke

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Gold Coast 2018 – Day 7

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Team SA: How they fared

Team South Africa started the day’s action with 21 medals in the bag, nine of them gold. Here’s what happened on Wednesday, 11 April as they went out to turn their golden tally into double figures.

ATHLETICS
Women’s javelin final: Sunette Viljoen earned yet another Commonwealth medal for South Africa. She now has a fullhouse of Games medals and this won’t be the one that makes her happiest as she had to settle for bronze on the night. She opened with a 62.08 and that was as good as it got as she slipped back with throws of 56.61, 58.69, 56.57, no throw and 57.38. Four years ago, at the last Games in Glasgow, Scotland she won silver with a throw of 63.19m. Still, she has come an awfully long road for SA and has done her country proud! Winner on the night was Australia’s Kathryn Mitchell, with her opening throw of 68.92, a Games record.
Men’s 200m semi-final 1: Clarence Munyai booked his slot in the final with a controlled 20.36 second place spot in the first of three semis. Starting out of lane three he looked smooth but slowed drastically the last few metres, whether it was just sparing energy for the final, or something more worrying, we’ll only know in time. His time was 0.18sec behind Canadian winner, Aaron Brown. Certainly Munyai wasn’t sharing anything as he races past media in the mixed zone without comment.
Men’s 200m semi-final 2: Anaso Jobodwana gave South African sports fans a near heart attack as he inexplicably fell out of his blocks and onto the track. There were a few angst-filled moments as officials conferred, showing the green card of clearance. From then on it was green for go as he came around the bend nicely to clock 20.61 in a slower heat as England’s Zharnel Hughes won in 20.37. ‘I really don’t know what happened,’ laughed Jobodwana. ‘I just kinda fell over. Then I reset and it was good. I like running from lane three but tonight the curve just seemed to go on forever. But when I got to the top of the curve I saw I was in a good position, in the final. I’m confident.’


Men’s long jump final: GOLD! Luvo Manyonga left his best to last before winning his first Commonwealth gold medal. The Olympic silver medallist and world championships gold medallist, Manyonga opened with a leap of 8.24m after Aussie Henry Frayne had made the early running with an 8.24m. Manyonga then moved into the lead with an 8.35 on his fourth attempt before, in typical showman style, unleashed the winning leap of 8.41 with his sixth and final jump – it’s also a Games record, beating Frayne’s one-day old mark of 8.34 set in qualifying! Manyonga’s fellow South African, Ruswahl Samaai added another medal to the SA warchest with bronze after and 8.22m jump on his second attempt. Samaai repeated his efforts of four years ago when he also got bronze in Glasgow, Scotland.
Men’s F38 shot put final: Reinhardt Hamman, a gold medallist in the javelin at the Rio Paralympics two years ago, earned his first Commonwealth Games bronze medallist in his secondary event. The jovial Western Cape athlete has had to change his entire throwing technique after knee surgery on his return from Rio but it was still good enough to land him bronze with a season’s best distance of 13.15m. For Juanre Jenkinson it was his Commonwealth Games debut and he ended eighth with a 9.63m effort.

BADMINTON
Women’s Doubles, Round of 32: The South African combination of Michelle Butlet-Emmett and Elmé de Villiers) bt Falkland Islands (Zoe Morris and Cheryl March) in straight sets. They won 21-3 21-5 and it was all done and dusted in just 15 minutes – with the average rally only lasting three seconds!
Mixed doubles, Round of 32: SA’s Cameron Coetzer and Michelle Butler-Emmett went down 2-0 to Canadians Krysten Tsai and Nyl Yakura. The score was 21-16 21-15 in a 22-minute scrap.
Women’s Singles, Round of 32: Elmé de Villiers went down to Saina Nehwal (India) losing 21-3 21-1 in just 18 minutes.
Women’s Singles, Round of 32: Michelle Butler-Emmett was beaten by Singapore rival Hui Zhen-Grace Chua of Singapore, the score reading 21-5 21-12 after 19 minutes.
Men’s Doubles, Round of 32: South Africa’s Cameron Coetzer and Prakash Vijayanath went down 2-1 to Ghana’s Daniel Sam and Emmanuel Donkor. They lost the first 21-23 but bounced back to win the second 26-24 before going down 21-23 in a 50-minute tie.
Men’s singles, Round of 32: Prakash Vijayanath went down to Mauritian Georges Julien, losing 2-0. Game scores were 13-21, 15-21 in 23 minutes.
Mixed Doubles, Round of 32: South Africa’s Bongani van Bodenstein and Elmé de Villiers lost 2-0 to Singapore
Mixed Doubles, Round of 32: South Africa’s Prakash Vijayanath and Nita Scholtz lost 2-0 to Singapore

BOWLS
Women’s Pairs, Section A, Round 4: South Africa’s Nicolene Neal and Colleen Piketh marched on as they beat India on Rink 17 at the Broadbeach venue. The South Africans were 8-1 up at one stage but the Indian duo fought back and indeed, took the lead (15-14) on the 13th end. Down 16-17 on the 16th the South Africans finally edged ahead on the 17th and sealed victory on the 18th.
Women’s Pairs, Section A, Round 5:  Neal and  Piketh were at it again, this time against Wales where they won again, with a score of 23-17. The game see-sawed in the early stages and Wales were four shots to the good on the 13th but were unable to add to their total of 17 as the Neal/Piketh combo steamrollered to victory.
Open B6/7/8 Triples, Semi-final: South Africa (Tobias Botha, Willem Viljoen and Christopher Patton) went down to Australia, 15-7. They were 7-0 down early on and never go to within two shots of the host nation.
Mixed B2/B3 Pairs gold medal match: It was a silver in the bag for South Africa’s Princess Schreuder and Philippus Walker as they went down to the host nation, 12-9 in a low-scoring affair. South Africa were first on the board but immediately on the back foot at Australia kept the pair (directed by Graham Ward and Johanna van Rooyen) at bay until the 15th and final end.
Men’s Fours, Section B, Round 4: South Africa’s Gerry Baker, Jason Evans, Rudi Jacobs and Morgan Muvhango) had few problems from their northern neighbours Botswana, winning 22-6 after leading from start to finish.

DIVING
Women’s Synchronised 3m Springboard Final: United States-based Micaela Bouter and Nicole Gillis finished sixth with a total points tally of 238.80. The gold medal was won by Australia, ahead of England. Their best scoring dive was their fifth and last when they performed an inward two-and-a-half somersaults tuck, which earned them 56.70 points and lifted them to sixth. The SA duo’s DD (Degree of Difficulty) seemed somewhat on the low side and it was only the fact that the Aussie second side had a failed five that saw the host nation propping up the standings.

GYMNASTICS (Rhythmic)
Individual qualification sub-division 1, Rotation 1: With the team’s artistic gymnasts having ‘limped’ back home with injury, it was up to this code’s Grace Legote and Chris-Marie van Wyk to fly the SA flag. Competing on Wednesdaymorning at the Coomera Indoor Centre. Legote was fifth with a score of 42.650 and Van Wyk seventh (35.200). Leader was Cyprus’ Diamanto Evripidou (56.975). They were in action in the hoop, ball, clubs and ribbon divisions. On the floor, Van Wyk’s musical accompaniment was California Dreamin’ by Sia – quite apt with the iconic Surfers’ Paradise venue not far away!

HOCKEY
Men’s Pool A: South Africa beat Canada 2-0 to post their first victory of the games. First goal came from Ryan Julius in the 31st minute and the matchwinner went to Reza Rosenberg in the 60th minute.

NETBALL
Pool A: South Africa notched up their second win in consecutive days when they beat Barbados at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre. Final score was 85-25 to the Proteas. Apart from the third quarter the Caribbean combination were beaten by 15 goals or more in each sector. Ine-Marie Venter and Sigi Burger were destroyers-in-chief netting on 34 and 33 occasions respectively with skipper Maryka Holtzhausen getting 10 for herself and replacement goal attack Renske Stoltz eight.

SHOOTING
Queen’s Prize Individual Finals (day one): Petrus Haasbroek and Jacobus du Toit ended 11th and 21st respectively on day one of this event. They returned scores of 104-12VBulls and 103-6VBulls. First day leader of the 33-strong field was Aussie Jim Bailey with 105-15, showing that things are tight at the top.

PARA TABLE TENNIS
Men’s TT6-10 Singles, Group 2: Theo Cogill went down in his second match, losing Ross Wilson (Eng) in a match that could have gone either way. Final score was 3-2 and the Capetonian will have to win his next match to secure a semi-final spot. Cogill lost the first game 11-7 but fought back to take the next two 12-10 and 11-9 before Wilson won the last two 11-9 and 11-7

 

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Gold Coast 2018 – Day 6

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Team South Africa started the day’s action flushed with success after winning nine medals in bowls, swimming and track action the previous day. That took their tally to 18. Here’s what happened on Tuesday.

ATHLETICS
Men’s 400m hurdles, Heat One: Constant Pretorius was unable to make it through to the next round in these his first Games. He ended fourth in the first of three heats with a time of 49.71 seconds as only the top two in each heat went through. Winning time was 48.78 by Kyron McMaster of the British Virgin Island.
Men’s 400m hurdles, Heat Three: LJ van Zyl was off in the third and final heat and although the South African started well he faded drastically to end fifth in 50.98sec, as Nicholas Bett won in 49.24. These look like they could be the long-serving 32-year-old athlete’s final Commonwealth Games and indeed, he looked a far cry from the young buck who set the Games record of 48.05, a mark which stands to this day, and was set on the same continent – Melbourne back in 2006.
Men’s long jump, qualifying round: Group A: South Africa had two very real medal contenders jumping for the right to contest the final. Neither Ruswahl Samaai nor Luvo Manyonga disappointed as they recorded two solid attempts without wasting too much energy on a hot Gold Coast morning. Samaai was in Group A and his one jump saw him landing at 8.06, the best of his group. Manyonga gave even less away and was pegged at 7.91. That earned him third spot as Aussie Henry Frayne gave the locals something to shout about with a Games record of 8.34m! Manyonga’s mark was third in the group and the two South Africans go into Wednesday’s final as second and sixth best qualifiers.
Women’s 400m hurdles, Round One, Heat Two: Wenda Nel was the only South African in this discipline and to be honest her performance looked pretty much the best of the Saffas in morning action. Despite coming second in heat two, behind Jamaican Janieve Russell (54.01) she looked in total control of her run as she clocked 54.61 for a season’s best (even though Games computers didn’t pick it up). If anyone knows, she should. That put her straight through to Thursday’s final. ‘I just wanted to make sure I qualified for the final so that job’s done. I executed my plan quite well – it’s a fast track, nice hot conditions and I had fun out there. I held back after a start which may have been a bit fast but after the 10th I knew I had my spot in the final.’
Men’s 200m, Heat Six: All class was Clarence Munyai as he cantered to victory in 20.95sec. He had the luxury of knowing he was clear coming off the bend already. Earlier there’d been a false start but it didn’t faze Munyai as he easily beat England’s Richard Kilty (21.08). ‘I knew it wasn’t me,’ said Munyai. ‘I wait and sit till I hear the gun. I know guys don’t easily get away from me at the start so I knew the guy must have false-started. I just did enough to get to the semis. It’s a fast track, a bit like London so today was all about cruise control and being ready for the semi.’
Men’s 200m, Heat Seven: It was job done for Anaso Jobodwana as he followed his compatriot through to the semi-finals with victory in even quicker fashion than his young countryman. He clocked 20.89 from Kiwi Joseph Millar (21.10). Both Jobodwana and Munyai went through automatically as winners and didn’t have to hang around for any anxious waiting. ‘I did a lot of looking around today to see what was going on,’ joked Jobodwana. ‘My left hamstring was a bit tight so I just wanted to get into the semi and then push it faster then. It’s my first time running a big 200m in the outside lane so that was a bit different.’ More on the hamstring: ‘I did a stupid thing, after a long red-eye flight from Perth we got here at 5am and I was on the track at 10am and it was quite tense. The good thing is that I didn’t feel it all today, so I’m now happy and looking forward to the semis.’
Men’s 110m hurdles final: Antonio Alkana was unable to build on his form in the heats and ended fifth in a  time of 13.49sec as Jamaica hurtled to a 1-2, courtesy of  Ronald Levy (13.19) and Hansie Parchment (13.22). ‘I had a good start but hit a hurdle early on and lost my rhythm a bit and in a race as technical as this it’s incredibly hard to come back – you have to be smooth as possible.I’m still happy to make the final here – wow, the tension in final something else, but I really wanted to medal here, it would have opened up so many more doors for me in Europe.’


Women’s 1500m final: Caster Semenya had to wait more than 10 minutes before she got down to business but when the gun finally went off at a sodden Carrara Stadium it was ALL business as she raced to the gold medal, a new Commonwealth Games record, and a new national mark of 4min 00.72sec. Timing her move to perfection, she opened up the throttle with just over 200m to go and there was no stopping her as she went on to win by almost 2.5sec over Kenyan Beatric Chepkoech with Wales’ Melissa Courtney a surprise bronze medallist in 3:03:44. Semenya’s time beat Zola Pieterse’s 34-year-old mark, set in Port Elizabeth, by 0.09sec.

BADMINTON
Women’s singles, Round of 64: South Africa’s Johanita Scholtz went down to England’s Chloe Birch 2-0 (21-5 2-18) in a match at the Carrara Arena which saw the first game lasting nine minutes and the second two minutes longer.
Mixed Doubles, Round of 64: South Africa’s Cameron Coetzer and Michelle Butler-Emmet accounted for  Mauritius with a score of 2-1. The South Africans lost the first game 21-18 to Aatish Lubah and Nick Chan-Lam. That was the longest game of the three, at 12 minutes and Coetzer and Butler-Emmet then roared back to take the next two games (and the match) with scores of 21-15 and 21-10.
Singles, Round of 64: Coetzer later went down to African compatriot Edwin Ekiring of Uganda. The score was 21-10 and 21-14 with games lasting 14 and 15 minutes respectively.
Singles, Round of 64: There was a second win of the day for the SA contingent as Vijayanath beat Fiji’s Burty Molia in straight games, 21-12, 21-10, both games lasting 10 minutes.
Singles, Round of 64: Bongani van Bodenstein went down to Kean Yew Loh, the Singapore player winning 2-0 with game scores of 21-11 21-9. The young Tuks student will nevertheless be soaking up the experience of his first major multi-code games after 21 minutes of action.
Mixed doubles, Round of 64: South Africa’s Prakash Vijayanath and Johanita Scholtz beat their Zambian counterparts Changa Mulenga and Everlyn Siamumpangial 2-0. Game scores were  21-8 21-16 and the action was all done in 17min!

BOWLS
Women’s Pairs, Section A, Round Two: South Africa (Nicolene Neal and Colleen Piketh) bt Northern Ireland 20-12. They had to come back from a 0-5 deficit after four ends but got back on track right away and after the 12th end Northern Ireland were unable to add to their tally.
Men’s Singles, Section D, Round Three: Petrus Breitenbach got the better of Paniani (Cook Islands), winning with a score of 21-19 after hitting the lead on the 23rd and penultimate end.
Men’s Singles, Section D, Round Four:  Breitenbach then lost his next match, going down to the host nation’s Aaron Wilson. Breitenbach lead for the first two ends but the Aussie relentlessly piled on the pressure to end up winning 21-6.
Mixed B2/B3 Pairs, Semi-final: South Africa’s Princess Schreuder and Philippus Walker, directed as ever by Graham Ward and Johanna van Rooyen beat Wales 11-9 to book their spot in the gold medal match. It was only from the 12th end (locked at 8-8) that the South Africans finally edged ahead.
Women’s Triples, Section D, Round Three: South Africa’s Elma Davis, Esme Kruger, Johanna Snyman went down 28 -11 to England.  The South Africans were on the back foot from the very first end and in fact, never got ahead throughout the entire match
Men’s Singles, Section D, Round Five: Petrus Breitenbach posted victory in this third match of the day. His record going into this game was 1-1 and he turned that into a winning average by beating Phillip Jones (Norfolk Islands)  21-13. It was fairly evenly matched until the 13th end when the South African started pulling away.
Men’s Fours, Section B, Round Two: Another solid win for South Africa as Gerry Baker, Jason Evans, Rudi Jacobs, Morgan Muvhango) thumped Norfolk Islands 25-7. The SA quartet got off to a rollicking start and by the time the Pacific Islanders got onto the scoreboard, SA were already 14 shots clear!

BOXING
Men’s 64kg, Quarter-final: Fighting for the chance to get a guaranteed medal, Sinethemba Blom lost on points to Jessie Lartey (Ghana).  Fighting out of the blue corner Blom went down 3-1 in a split decision on the judge’s scorecards.  The Australian and Japanese judges gave Blom the verdict with scores of 30-27 and 29-28 respectively but the Trinidad & Tobago, Welsh and Moldovian officials all saw it differently. By most  accounts it was a most unpopular decision with some prominent officials calling the result ‘utter nonsense’.

CYCLING
Men’s individual time trial: South Africa’s sole representative to start, Brendon Davids ended 10th  of 53 finishers with a time of 51min 44.00sec over the 38.5km trial along the Currumbin Beachfront. That put him 3:30.96 behind Cameron Meyer of Australia. Davids was in the mix in the early stages but then dropped his chain just after the big hill of the course. Davids’ fellow South African Nicholas Dlamini didn’t start, with his focus on the road race later in the Games and is also nursing a tired knee. ‘It’s a bitter-sweet result for me,’ said Davids. ‘It was probably my best time trial ever in terms of performance but unfortunately I had an issue out on course and lost a big chunk of time having to slow down and stop and try and get going again and it was on a pretty fast piece of the course. But at the end of the day it’s part and parcel of what we do in cycling and I’ll take the positives and roll with it.’

HOCKEY
Women’s Pool A: South Africa came back down to earth after having beaten Wales in their previous clash. It was a narrow defeat, just one goal separating the teams. The winner came in the 47h minute from Indian skipper Rani.

NETBALL
Women’s Pool A: South Africa had a resounding 92-38 win over the Pacific Islanders. Racked by injuries these Games as they lost two top goalshooters in Lenize Potgieter and Danelle Lochner before the first game, they’ve been up against it from the beginning. Losing wing defence Precious Mthembu due to a family tragedy and injury also didn’t help their cause. Up 22-9 after the first quarter the Proteas piled it on and their next quarter scores were: 24-5 21-7 25-7. Replacement goalshooter Sigi Burger stamped her authority on proceedings throughout and ended with 56 goals.

PARA POWERLIFTING
Men’s heavyweight: Ricardo Fitzpatrick ended seventh in the men’s heavyweight division, held at the Carrara Sports Arena. He ended with a total of 152.1 points with successful attempts of 160 and 167kg. Winner was Abdulazeez Ibrahim of Nigeria, a bigger man than Kimberley’s Fitzpatrick and 9kg heavier. He had lifts of 210 and 220kg.

PARA TABLE TENNIS
Men’s TT6-10, Singles, Group Two: Theo Cogill, the man who survived a near-fatal stabbing a few years back had an easy opening match win as he overcame  Temitope Ogunsanya. He beat the Nigerian 3-0 (11-4 11-4 11-2) at the Oxenford Studios, also the venue for boxing.

SHOOTING
Queen’s Prize Pairs Final: After being right up in the running on Monday’s first day of competition the SA duo of Petrus Haasbroek and Jacobus du Toit were again right up there but faded to fourth of 16 teams, just outside of medal contention. They ended with a score of 581 with 53 V-Bulls. England went on win with 581-61V-Bulls. It was a British 1-2-3 on the podium as Wales and Scotland took silver and bronze.

SWIMMING
Women’s 400m Freestyle, Heats: Duné Coetzee took to the water in the second of the three heats. She had come into the event with a time of 4:14.40, but swam slightly outside of that, clocking 4:15.21 in her heat for sixth place and an overall 11th on the time sheets, which left her outside the eight for the final. In the third heat, Kate Beavon and Kristin Bellingan were at opposite sides of the pool, in lanes eight and one, respectively. Beavon finished sixth in 4:17.59, with Bellingan eighth in 4:20.92. That left them 12th and 15th overall and missing out on the final.
Men’s 50m freestyle, Final: SILVER! Brad Tandy produced what he called ‘the best result of my life, if not my best time, and performance-wise it’s in the top three,’ after winning the silver medal in 28.81. Ben Proud touched the wall first in 21.35. Behind Tandy were three Australians and this was a huge achievement in front of a big, partisan home crowd. Tandy led early before Proud claimed the lead but the South African stayed committed and has a silver for reward.
1500m Freestyle, Final: Brent Szurdoki went into the final with a No4 seeding after an entry time of 15:11.22. And fourth is where he finished, in 15:28.60. Australia’s Jack McLoughlin won in 14:47.09 followed by Daniel Jervis (14:48.67) and Mack Horton (14:51.05)
Men’s 200m Individual Medley, Heats: There wasn’t any luck for South Africa’s three representatives. Fastest of them was Jarryd Baxter, who finished third in his heat in 2:02.23. Ayrton Sweeney (2:03.19) and Eben Vorster (2:07.11) were fifth and sixth in their respective heats, but none of them were quick enough to make the final eight. They placed 11th, 15th and 17th overall, with the cut off being 2:01.78.
Men’s 4x100m Medley Relay, Heats: South Africa sent in their ‘reserves’ for the heats, the prime goal being to qualify for the evening’s final where, once Chad le Clos and Cameron van der Burgh are added to the mix, suddenly it’s a squad that has serious medal potential. Martin Binedell, Michael Houlie, Ryan Coetzee and Calvyn Justus got the job done in the heats, combining for 3:42.44. Ahead of them on the timesheets were Australia, England, Scotland and Canada. They would have been be looking over their shoulders …
Final: Both Chad le Clos and Cameron van der Burgh came into the team to strengthen it after they had finished fifth fastest in the morning qualifying. It always looked as though Australia and England were going to be the countries to fight out gold and silver, with Scotland and South Africa contesting the bronze. Which is the way it turned out, with Le Clos swimming a superb third leg (50.10) to give SA the necessary advantage over Scotland, which Brad Tandy (49.70) managed to protect on the freestyle closing leg. SA clocked 3:34.79, with Scotland fourth in 3:35.15.
Women’s 4x100m Medley, Final: Swimming in lane one, Nathania van Niekerk, Kaylene Corbett, Erin Gallagher and Emma Chelius finished seventh in 4:12.02, with Australia breaking the Games record in 3:54.36.

Compiled by Mark Etheridge and Gary Lemke

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