Cape Town – “Hopefully I can break it again.” That was the word from Lara van Niekerk after she surpassed her own 50m breaststroke record in the semi-finals of the Commonwealth Games on Friday night.
The 19-year-old South African sensation raced to a superb 29.82 seconds in her heat earlier in the day at the Sandwell Aquatics Centre in Birmingham, and then went even quicker in the semi-final when she won in 29.80, which sets her up nicely for a gold medal in Saturday night’s final (8.12pm SA time).
Olympic 200m breaststroke champion Tatjana Schoenmaker (30.95) and Kaylene Corbett (31.43) also made it through to the decider.
Fast.
— Team South Africa (@TeamSA2024) July 29, 2022
Faster.
Fastest.
Lara Van Niekerk doing what she does best!#TeamSA#B2022 pic.twitter.com/R0EUO870S8
“It felt amazing, it was really close and just broke it again, but it’s everything in a 50m,” Van Niekerk said. “I’m just so happy, I got to break it twice in a day, and we’ll see, hopefully, I can break it again tomorrow night.
“I don’t think it’s ever happened (having three South Africans in the final), not that I know of. But it’s amazing, just having those beautiful girls with me.
𝗪𝗔𝗧𝗖𝗛! 👇
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) July 29, 2022
🇿🇦 Lara van Niekerk broke the Commonwealth Games record in the women's 50m breaststroke for the second time to advance to the final, with compatriots Tatjana Schoenmaker and Kaylene Corbett ✅
📺 Stream live: https://t.co/0BMWdeEYT3 pic.twitter.com/f9gXUH4b2g
“It’s definitely going to calm my nerves, knowing that I’m not on my own like at Worlds. Having them with me, it’s going to be amazing.”
Another serious gold-medal contender in the pool will be Pieter Coetze in the men’s 100m backstroke final. Coetze stopped the clock at 53.67 in the semi-final, which made him the fastest qualifier for Saturday night’s final (10.05pm SA time).
ICYMI: Pieter Coetze qualifies fastest in his heat and overall to reach the Men's 100m Backstroke Final. #TeamSA🇿🇦 #B2022 #CommonwealthGames2022 @SwimSouthAfrica pic.twitter.com/hwLy2oDeuS
— Team South Africa (@TeamSA2024) July 29, 2022
The 18-year-old, who has also entered the 50m and 200m backstroke, 100m freestyle and the 4x100m relays in the freestyle and individual medley categories, was the only swimmer to go under the 54-second mark.
The SA women’s 4x100m freestyle team will also compete in the final on Saturday (9.26pm SA time).
@ashfakmohamed