2021 CANA GRAND PRIX SWIMMING STELLENBOSCH
- May 6 – 8, 2021
- Stellenbosch, South Africa
- Long Course Meters (LCM)
- Olympic Qualifying Meet
- RSA Olympic Selection Criteria
- Results Available on Meet Mobile Under “2021 Cana Grand Prix Swimming Stellenbosch”
The 2021 CANA Grand Prix day 2 finals have wrapped up, marking the halfway point of the 3 day, 4 session meet. The meet, organized by the African organization CANA, is taking place in Stellenbosch, South Africa and features swimmers from a number of countries including Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Djibouti, eSwatini, Guinea, Malawi, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, and Zambia.
Chad le Clos delivered two first place finishers during day 2 finals by swimming a 49.41 in the 100 freestyle and a 1:57.52 200 butterfly. While both swims were quicker than his prelim swims of 50.15 and 1:59.27, respectively, they trailed his PBs of 48.15 in the 100 freestyle and 1:52.96 in the 200 fly. So far, le Clos has only officially qualified to swim the 200 butterfly in Tokyo, having hit a 1:55.88 at the recent South African national championships to undercut the FINA A standard of 1:56.48.
Fellow Olympic-qualifier in the event Ethan du Preez followed le Clos in the final with a 2:06.87 for silver. That trailed the 1:56.44 he swam at nationals last month as well as his 1:59.90 in the prelims.
Another double event winner during the first finals session of the meet was Olivia Nel. Nel swam to victory in the 50 freestyle with a 26.22. Nel recently raced the event at South African nationals where she posted a 25.66 to take 4th place in the finals. Her other win came in the 50 backstroke in which she nearly cracked the 30-second barrier, hitting a 30.02 for the win. That was a little bit slower than her 29.47 swim in the prelims.
Following up from his FINA A-breaking prelim swim during day 1 prelims, Matt Sates was a 2:01.77 in the 200 IM final, which was two seconds slower than his 1:59.02 from the prelims. His first swim should be good enough to qualify him for the Tokyo Olympics in the event, as it was better than the FINA “A” standard of 1:59.67.
Sates was back later in the session to claim gold in the men’s 5o butterfly, getting under the 24-second mark for the first time with a 23.93 for gold. That was an improvement upon his prelim swim of 24.39. Heading into the meet Sates had a PB in the event of 24.06 from April 2021.
In the women’s 200 freestyle, Holly Cleworth jumped from third place in the prelims to 1st place in the finals, swimming a 2:07.95 for the gold medal. That was quicker than the 2:09.64 she swam during the prelims of the event and enough to beat out Hannah Pearse‘s 2:10.31 for silver and Hannah Roberston‘s 2:10.92 for bronze.
Following her silver medal performance in the 200 Pearse swam a 2:27.90 to win the women’s 200 backstroke. That swim for Pearse was a significant amount slower than her prelim swim of 2:20.93. Pearse has been as fast as a 2:16.94 in the 200 back before which she swam in April 2019 at South African Championships.
Lara Van Niekerk looked to become the second Olympic qualifier in the 100 breast, joining Tatjana Schoenmaker in the event but missed the mark, hitting a 1:08.30. That was a bit off her prelims swim of 1:07.39 as well as the 1:07.07 FINA A mark in the event.
Additional Day 2 Finals Event Winners
- Malawian swimmer Filipe Gomes was a 2:31.44 in the 200 breast, just over his national record in the event of 2:31.44.
- Martin Binedell was a little slower than his 55.68 PB in the 100 back to win the event in a 58.20.
- Emma Kuhn (5:09.14) and Ahmed Jaoudi (4:10.59) won the women’s 400 IM and men’s 400 freestyle, respectively.
- Dune Coetzee swam to a 1:02.03 100 fly victory which was a bit off her prelim swim of 1:00.67.
- Michael Houile dipped under 28 to exactly match his prelim swim of 27.99 in the 50 breaststroke.
did my guy add 7 seconds in the final