Two South African Records Broken As Meder And Sates Qualify For World Championships

The second day of the SA National Swimming Championships in Gqeberha brought a wave of standout performances, with two more swimmers securing their spots for the World Championships in Singapore later this year.

Rebecca-Meder and Matt Sates joined Pieter Coetz on the growing list of qualifiers, with Meder and Michaela de Villiers also breaking South African records in the process.

Meder was the star of the morning session, storming to victory in the womens 200m individual medley with a time of 2:10.39 shaving off nearly three-tenths of a second from her own national record of 2:10.67 set at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. I will say I'm very surprised with a 2:10.3. We thought at least the 2:11 low, maybe sneak in a 2:10 high, but to break my own SA record and to go a 2:10.3 is mind blowing, so Im really happy with that, said Meder.

Another major surprise came in the womens 50m backstroke, where Michaela de Villiers edged out Jessica Thompson for the national title. De Villiers touched the wall in 28.25 seconds, setting a new SA record in the process. 'I am so happy about it. It's very exciting, not something I expected so very, very happy, said de Villiers

I don't really train backstroke so its especially surprising because of that, but it feels really good. I think freestyle training actually kind of relates, so Im very happy about it, added the Louisiana-based swimmer.