Le Clos Wins Again, Schoeman Goes World-Leader in 50 Fly Semi-Final on Day 2 of SA Nationals

After a successful first day of the 2014 South African Commonwealth Games Trials meet, day 2 saw more good swims. There was, however, just a single Commonwealth Games qualifying final on the day, so the list of qualifiers for Glasgow will look quite the same as it did after day 1.

A reminder of the qualification standards:

QUALIFYING TIMES FOR THE 2014 COMMONWEALTH GAMES:

Men’s 200 Free – FINALS

The team from KZNA dominated the top of the men’s 200 free, with three of the top four positions. That included a second event win from Chad le Clos, who was a 1:48.43.

That’s not quite a lifetime best for him (we found an in-season 1:48.2 that he went last summer as his best), but for a selection meet it’s a fantastic time for him. It did come up .01 seconds shy of the qualifying standard, but he’ll be allowed to swim that race at the Commonwealth Games if he so chooses.

South Africa put four guys under 1:50 i this race, and all four are 21-years old or younger. Myles Brown, le Clos’ teammate, was 2nd in 1:49.31 (he’s already on the team in the 400 free). Dylan Bosch was 3rd in 1:49.36, and the newcomer 18-year old Calvyn Justus took 4th in 1:49.56.

That aggregates to around a 7:16.66, which is well short of what it would take to final at Worlds or the Olympics. It is, however, close enough for them to reach the podium at the Commonwealth Games, where in 2010 they medaled for the first time ever in this event. With Darian Townsend continuing to sit out domestic competition, however, they will have lost a very important piece of that old relay.

Women’s 50 Fly – FINALS (non-qualifying)

Vanessa Mohr added a hair from the semi-finals, but the 19-year old still managed to win a deep 50 fly field with a 27.15. That put her just ahead of Jessica Ashley-Cooper (27.22) and Marne Erasmus (27.36).

There are no qualifying standards for the 50 fly for South Africa, but even if one of these swimmers does get selected in the 100 fly, these swims would be a long-shot to medal at the Commonwealth Games regardless.

Men’s 50 Back – FINALS (non-qualifying)

30-year old Gerhard Zandberg won the men’s 50 backstroke in 25.30 – which was almost half-a-second slower than the time with which he won last year’s meet.

In a relative rarity of a veteran field at this meet, 26-year old Ricky Ellis took 2nd in 25.52, and 23-year old Charl Crous took 3rd in 25.64.

Women’s 50 Breast – FINALS (non-qualifying)

18-year old Tara Nicholas, one of three South African elites who all moved to the United States to train together as freshmen this year at SMU, won the women’s 50 breaststroke in 31.86. That put her ahead of another Texas-based swimmer, Texas A&M’s Franko Jonker (32.16) and Justine Macfarlane (32.42).

Women’s 1500 Free – FINALS (non-qualifying)

17-year old Michelle Weber continued her progression into a world-class distance swimmer on Tuesday with a 16:44.62 in the women’s 1500 free. That’s about 18 seconds better than the time with which she won last year.

Weber struggled quite a bit in 2013 (she was only 8:59 in the 800 free final), but it looks like she’s back on track to be better, if not great, this year.

Qualifying After  Day 2

Men
Chad le Clos (200 fly)
Dylan Bosch (200 fly)
Myles Brown (400 free)

Women
Karin Prinsloo (200 free)

Semi-Finals and Relays

• Roland Schoeman started his meet with a 23.07 for the top seed in the men’s 50 fly. That’s a new world-leader in the event. Le Clos is 2nd in 24.42 – far from the world ranked time, but he should be better in finals.

• Cameron van der Burgh was a casual 1:00.98 for the top seed in the 100 breaststroke. That still gave him about a four-and-a-half second cushion on qualifying, so he’ll have plenty of time to really go something fast in finals – and he’ll have to drop to earn the qualifying time. Jared Pike is 2nd in 1:02.40, Marko Visser is 3rd in 1:02.67, and Van der Burgh’s primary training partner Giulio Zorzi was 4th in 1:03.28. Zorzi is a 50 meter specialist, and he turned in an identical split as van der Burgh, but we’d expect him to hold his final time a little better on Wednesday in finals.
• Karin Prinsloo is working on a second event qualification with a 55.19 in the 100 free semi-final. That’s about three-tenths of a second short of the required time (though winning is probably enough to get her the right to swim the race in Glasgow). Erin Gallagher is 2nd in 56.88 (she’s only 15) and Trudi Maree was 3rd in 56.89.
• Prinsloo also took the top seed in the 100 back in 1:01.58. Jessica Ashley-Cooper, who was the South African medley’s backstroker last year, was 2nd in 1:02.04.

Full, live meet results available here.