Though they didn’t get on the medals desk on day one, Team South Africa managed to make an impression on Friday, with swimmer Lara van Niekerk making an explosive begin by displaying record-breaking form on the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
The 19-year-old breaststroke specialist received her 50m warmth in 29.82 seconds within the morning session, breaking the Commonwealth Games report over a single size of the pool.
And she went even faster within the semifinals, held within the night session, by touching the wall in 29.80.
She was simply 0.08 exterior her personal African report (29.72) which she set on the nationwide championships in Port Elizabeth in April.
Setting up a possible podium assault for the SA staff, Van Niekerk can be joined within the dash final by Olympic 200m champion Tatjana Schoenmaker, who was fifth quickest within the semifinals (30.94), and Kaylene Corbett, who certified eighth quickest for the medal battle (31.43).
Meanwhile, Pieter Coetze was additionally in elegant form within the males’s 100m backstroke, coasting into the final because the gold medal favorite.
The 18-year-old prospect clocked 53.67 – the quickest time within the semifinals – ending 0.33 faster than England’s Brodie Williams, who was second quickest (54.00)
Another teenager, Matthew Sates, settled for seventh place within the males’s 400m freestyle final.
Sates accomplished the race in 3:50.07, with Elijah Winnington main an Australian medal sweep by grabbing gold in 3:43.06.
There was no early luck for 17-time medallist Chad le Clos, who fell quick in his first try to equal a lofty Games report, lacking out on a spot within the males’s 50m butterfly final after ending eleventh total within the semifinals.
Triathlon contests
Earlier on the opening day of competitors in Birmingham, triathletes Jamie Riddle and Simone Ackerman each put up a combat, producing strong performances.
Riddle made an impression from the beginning of the boys’s race, exiting the water in second place, and he was nonetheless within the prime three when he acquired off the bike.
He was unable to carry on, nevertheless, slipping to sixth place on the run leg as he crossed the road in 51:32, with Alex Yee securing victory for hosts England in 50:34.
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In the ladies’s triathlon, Ackerman took eighth place in 57:19, as Flora Duffy of Bermuda received gold in 55:25.
Riddle and Ackerman are set to line up once more within the combined relay on Sunday, together with former Commonwealth Games champion Henri Schoeman, who withdrew from the person race this week with the intention to deal with the staff occasion.
Team occasions
The Blitzboks made no errors of their opening matches of the boys’s rugby sevens event, coasting to victories over unfancied Malaysia (46-0) and Tonga (36-5).
They booked their place within the quarterfinals with a pool recreation to spare – a useless rubber fixture to be performed in opposition to Scotland on Saturday.
In the ladies’s rugby sevens event, South Africa had been left languishing on the backside of Pool B following two crushing defeats in opposition to world-class groups.
They misplaced 38-0 to Women’s World Series champions Australia of their first match, earlier than being handed a 41-0 defeat to Olympic bronze medallists Fiji.
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The SA ladies’s hockey staff additionally struggled of their opening recreation in opposition to Scotland.
Lisa-Marie Deetlefs managed to attain twice for the nationwide aspect, nevertheless it was not sufficient as Scotland earned a 4-2 win of their Pool B conflict.