By GARY LEMKE in Swakopmund
Coach Garth Tune was still casting a watchful eye over Team SA’s swimmers as they warmed down in the pool, long after the music had stopped and the VIPs and visitors had left The Dome arena at the end of Sunday’s finals session at the Region 5 Games in Swakopmund.
“Much better today,” he said nodding his approval with the performances of a squad which added another 10 medals to the 15 that had won on Saturday’s opening day at the venue. “That first day was a bit scratchy, and we know that we could still up our performance levels. This was a lot better and I think that the last two days (Monday and Tuesday) we’re going to see the very best of this team,” Tune added.
There were only eight finals swum on Sunday, compared to the 10 on Saturday, but half of them went the way of Team SA swimmers.
Jessica Carmody (100m freestyle), Matthew Pretorius (50m butterfly), Morgan Cope (50m breaststroke) and the Team SA 4x100m mixed freestyle quartet of Josh Esterhuizen, Carmody, Tumelo Mahan and Indiana de Villiers all won gold.
In terms of counting their medals, including those won in the relays, Carmody, De Villiers and George Els all have five, with Pretorius and Josh Esterhuyzen on four.
Cope followed up her 100m breaststroke gold by overhauling Els in the second half of the 50m event and then admitted that she is well suited to the 25m (short-course) pool that is being used here. “I felt confident behind the blocks and knew I had the race won if I executed things properly,” the 19-year-old said. “I knew Georgia would go out fast but I stayed patient and everything went according to plan.”
Carmody leads the gold medal tally with four, of which three have come in relays and the other in the 100m freestyle. “As obvious as it sounds, the 100 free is a race I like because it’s between the 50 and the 200m (where she won silver). I’m using this meet as a learning experience and am having a lot of fun.
“The relays are good practice for the individual events and I’ve been relaxed. My legs were quite sore earlier today but I had some dry needles administered before the 100m free and I felt so much better. This has been a fun gala!”
Josh Esterhuyzen had opened up proceedings by earning the silver medal in the 200m freestyle, although he was overhauled inside the final 50m. “The 1:49.97 is a PB for me so I have to be happy with the performance and the time. I just got tired towards the end.”
Photo of Matthew Pretorius by ROGER SEDRES