Matt Sates Takes Triple Gold On Night 3 Of South African C’ships

2020 SOUTH AFRICAN SC CHAMPIONSHIPS

After Tatjana Schoenmaker‘s double national records here on night 3 of the 2020 South African Short Course Championships, there were still plenty of solid swims in Pietermaritzburg both on the men’s and women’s sides.

21-year-old Seagulls swimmer Erin Gallagher made some magic happen in the women’s 100m free, clocking the only sub-54 second time of the field. Splitting 25.60/28.30, Gallagher scored a time of 53.90, a mark well off her own national record of 52.70, but enough to get the job done tonight.

Additionally, Gallagher took on the 50m fly where she scored a time of 26.60 to come out on top.

University of Georgia commit Matt Sates was a force to be reckoned with across the 100m free, 100m IM and 50m fly events this evening. The 17-year-old ripped new personal bests across all en route to tipping the podium for a 3-gold haul.

In the 100 free, Sates split 23.35/24.98 to earn a time of 48.33, his first-ever outing under 49 seconds. Then, in the 100m IM, he became South Africa’s 6th fastest performer all-time with a winning effort of 52.87. Finally, in the 50m fly, he entered the all-time South African performers’ list in slot #10 with a gold medal-worthy swim of 23.55.

Additional winners included Aimee Canny who produced a winning 100m IM time of 1:00.31 to fall just .01 shy of Tayla Lovemore’s national record. Dune Coetzee proved too quick for the women’s 200m fly field, with the teen taking the victory in 2:13.99. The men’s side saw Ross Hartigan produce a winning mark of 1:58.29.

16-year-old Pieter Coetze topped the men’s 100m back field in a time of 52.55 to become his nation’s 6th fastest man ever in the event.

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About Retta Race

Retta Race

Former Masters swimmer and coach Loretta (Retta) thrives on a non-stop but productive schedule. Nowadays, that includes having just earned her MBA while working full-time in IT while owning French 75 Boutique while also providing swimming insight for BBC.

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