Aimee Canny Lowers Own African Record In 200 Freestyle, Qualifies for Glasgow

2026 SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, April 14th – Saturday, April 18th
• Newton Park Swimming Pool, Gqeberha, South Africa
• LCM (50m)
• SwimSwam Preview
• Results: Meet Mobile – SA National Aquatic SNR-Champ 2026-PE

The 2026 South African Championships kicked off today from Gqeberha, with swimmers vying for slots on the nation’s roster for this year’s Commonwealth Games being held in Glasgow, Scotland.

Making the grade and turning heads this evening was 22-year-old University of Virginia swimmer Aimee Canny.

Canny, an NCAA champion for the Cavaliers, took on two events, the women’s 200m free and the 100m breast, lowering her own South African national and African continental records in the former.

Racing in the 2free final tonight, Canny busted out a lifetime best of 1:56.64 to take the gold decisively.

The next-closest competitor was represented by Hannah Robertson, who touched in 1:59.99, followed by Dune Coetzee, who rounded out the podium in 2:00.05.

Canny’s performance overtook her previous record of 1:56.80 put on the books two years ago to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games. That time checked in as the first-ever performance by an African female to clear the 1:57 barrier.

Remarkably, Canny dove in for the 100m breaststroke only about half an hour later, where she reached the wall in 1:06.57, another big-time personal best. Her previous career-swiftest time in this somewhat ‘off’ event came in at the 1:08.19 established last year.

Hacking over a second off that outing, Canny’s new PB now renders her South Africa’s 4th-best performer of all time in the event.

Speaking to Swimming South Africa tonight, Canny stated, “I think I’m happy that [the freestyle] was first because breaststroke was kind of more of a wildcard, you could say, just because I do a lot of freestyle training. But I’m super happy with that.

“I’ve kind of always been training breaststroke, but this year I’ve changed training groups and done a lot more distance and a lot more 200 breast… So I was really excited for this coming in.”

As for achieving the qualifying time in the breaststroke, Canny said, “I don’t know if I was expecting that. I knew I could get close to that, just wasn’t sure how close I would have got after that 200 freestyle.”