2023 SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Wednesday, April 12th – Sunday, April 16th
- Newton Park Swimming Pool, Gqeberha, South Africa
- LCM (50m)
- World Championships Qualifier
- Selection Criteria
- SwimSwam Preview
- Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap
- Psych Sheet
- Results – Meet Mobile: SA National Aquatic SNR-Champ-2023-PE
- Livestream
Two national records bit the dust on day two of the 2023 South African National Championships.
First, in the women’s 200m IM, we reported how 20-year-old Rebecca Meder produced a lifetime best of 2:11.39 to not only take the gold but also qualify for this summer’s World Championships.
Splitting 27.64/33.32 (1:00.96)/38.53/31.90, Meder got under the 2:12 threshold for the first time in her career, beating out her previous career-quickest of 2:12.01 from when she placed 4th at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
After the race, Meder said, “To be honest, it didn’t feel that fast – I thought I was going to miss it [Worlds cut]. I read a bible verse before… I was literally reciting that verse as I was swimming.
“I knew I could go 2:12.9 but 2:11.3 was just wow! So I’m really proud of myself.
“I knew coming in I’m the strongest, fastest, fittest and leanest I’ve ever been so I knew with all of those statistics I should be the fastest I’ve ever been. This pool has brought me much heartache before, missing the qualifying times for the Olympics and Commonwealth Games… so I’m really stoked.”
In addition to Meder, Olivia Nel also re-wrote South African swimming history with a new national record in the 50m back.
Nel clocked a time of 28.39 to overtake the previous national standard of 28.55 Chanelle van Wyk put on the books in 2009.
As for Nel, who races for the University of North Carolina, she stated after the performance, “I knew the SA record was 28.5 so I was really just hoping for anything under that. I’m just so stoked with that.
“I love my backstroke races. I actually haven’t been training too much backstroke this season, so I think to come and do really well, I’m really happy about that. I’ve just been really excited to race these events.”
