The 2020 SA Grand Prix concluded on Sunday at the Kings Park Aquatics Centre in Durban, with the standout performances coming from Erin Gallagher, Rebecca Meder, Dune Coetzee and Tatjana Schoenmaker.
Gallagher added two more gold medals to her tally, finishing ahead of the competition in the 100m freestyle with a time of 54.90sec and the 50m butterfly in 27.38, while Aimee Canny and Kristen de Goede won the silver and bronze in the freestyle in 55.79 and 57.68, respectively, with the silver in the butterfly going to De Goede in 28.10 and the bronze to Kerrtn Herbst in 28.41.
Next in the water was Meder, who was victorious in the 400m individual medley in 4:47.43 and the 100m backstroke in 1:03.32, while Dakota Tucker, Samantha Randle, Felicity Passon and Ruby Dixon won the silver and bronze in their respective events in 4:53.28, 4:57.45, 1:04.72 and 1:05.20.
Schoenmaker did not disappoint, winning two additional gold medals in the 50 and 200m breaststroke, clocking 31.45 and 2:24.46, respectively, while Kaylene Corbett won the silver in the 200m race in 2:26.45 and bronze in the 50m in 32.78.
Meder scooped the bronze in the 200m breaststroke in 2:33.68 and Lara van Niekerk the silver in the 50m breaststroke in 32.43.
Another double gold winner was Coetzee, posting a fast 4:20.29 in the 400m freestyle ahead of Kelly-Ann Brown in 4:27.80 and Kiara Noades in 4:28.35 and following that performance with a golden 2:14.81 in the 200m butterfly ahead of Emma Christianson in 2:19.76 and Tori Oliver in 2:23.49.
In the 100m butterfly, Ethan du Preez topped the medal podium with a time of 54.67 to Daniel Ronaldson’s 54.87 and Matthew Sates’ 55.19 and also managed a silver medal in the long distance 1500m freestyle in 16:05.51 behind Ruan Breytenbach in 15:52.59 and ahead of Roberto Gomes in 16:08.89.
Ronaldson went on to win a bronze in the 50m freestyle in 23.59 behind Douglas Erasmus in 23.13 and Clayton Jimmie in 23.53, while Sates bagged a silver in the 200m individual medley in 2:08.54 to Ross Hartigan’s 2:05.53 and Damian Mullen’s 2:09.84.
Pieter Coetze was fast off the block, winning the 50m backstroke in 25.97 followed by Giano Dos Santos in 27.40 and Ethan Koekemoer in 27.81, while in the 200m backstroke, Coetze had to settle for the silver in 2:04.15 ahead of Dylan Wright in 2:06.99 and behind Martin Binedell in 2:01.89.
The 200m freestyle title went to Luca Holtzhausen in 1:52.29 to Brent Szurdoki’s time of 1:52.77 and Matthew Bosch’s 1:53.51, while Michael Deans won the 100m breaststroke in 1:04.59 ahead of Robbie le Roux in 1:05.26 and Ardian Robinson in 1:05.52.
