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ZIMBABWEAN swimmers Donata Katai and Liam O’Hara found the going tough on the first day of the 2022 World Short Course Championships 25m in Melbourne, Australia, yesterday.
The duo is part of the Zimbabwe team and Katai swam in the women’s 100m backstroke’s heat three and finished in a personal best time of 1.01.85 but she, unfortunately, failed to qualify for the semi-finals after she was ranked 37th overall out of 47 swimmers who took to the pool in this event.
O’Hara, on the other hand, took part in the men’s 200m Individual Medley heat one and touched the wall in a new personal best time of 2.04.90, which is a new national record, but he could not proceed to the semi-finals after he was ranked 35th overall out of 37 swimmers who took part in this event.
Katai is fresh from winning the country gold medals at the just-ended African Union Sports Council Region 5 Games in Lilongwe, Malawi.
The 18-year-old female swimmer is a backstroke specialist, having managed to outclass the whole field in exciting women’s 20 and Under 100m and 200m backstroke finals in Malawi.
Katai also competed at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games last year.
The 16th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) are being staged in the sunny cost of Melbourne.
The event is taking part at the fantastic Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre (MSAC). The Championships will be staged over six days with heats in the morning sessions and the semi-finals and finals in the evening session.
Australia’s “Garden City” has played host to many major aquatics events, including the FINA World Championships in 2007 and multiple FINA Swimming World Cups. Other FINA events in Australia have been the 1991 and 1998 World Championships, which were both held in Perth.
Meanwhile, Matt Sates kicked off the World Short Course Championships in spectacular fashion, claiming gold in the 200m individual medley and smashing his own world junior record in the process yesterday.
The 19-year-old from Pietermaritzburg turned first after the butterfly leg, dropped back to third on the backstroke and then steadily worked his way back with an excellent breaststroke performance to regain the lead by the penultimate turn with 50m to go. There was no catching him on the freestyle, Sates powering to the finish in 1:50.15 for the gold. With that he also became the second fastest short course 200m IM swimmer in history. Only world-record-holder Ryan Lochte has swum faster.
American Carson Foster took silver in 1:50.96 and Canadian Finlay Knox the bronze in 1:51.04.
“I don’t even know what to say . . . ” a thrilled Sates commented afterwards, thanking everyone from teammates and coaches, to his grandparents, mom and the crowd.
“I feel good, I wasn’t expecting it so I’m very happy.”
Speaking about when he knew he could win the race, Sates added: “It was probably in the freestyle when I turned and looked to the side, and then I just gave it my all.”
Fellow teenager Pieter Coetzé was also in record-breaking from in the 100m backstroke. He claimed fourth place in his heat to progress to the evening semifinal where he finished fifth in a new African record time of 49.85. It was by far the faster of the two semifinals and saw the Pretoria swimmer going through to Wednesday’s final as the sixth fastest qualifier. American Ryan Murphy was quickest in 49.17.
Also in action was veteran Chad le Clos. The 30-year-old is gunning for podium places in the 100 and 200m butterfly but yesterday he also booked a spot in the final of the 50m butterfly. He finished third in his semifinal in 22.09 to progress to today’s final as the fifth fastest swimmer on the night. Hungary’s Szebasztian Szabo was the quickest qualifier in 21.90.
Clayton Jimmie was the other South African representative in the event. He finished 43rd overall in the heats in 23.41.
Earlier in the day, Rebecca Meder set a new national record in the heats of the 200m individual medley, finishing in 2:07.47 to better the mark of 2:07.54 set by Kathryn Meaklim 13 years ago. The 20-year-old from Durban won her heat but just missed out on a place in the final by .22 of a second.
Stephanie Houtman won her 400m freestyle heat but her time of 4:13.16 was the 19th fastest on the day and not quick enough to progress to the evening final. Her 16-year-old teammate, Milla Drakopoulos, finished 36th overall in the 100m backstroke in 1:01.52, while Emily Visagie was 32nd in the 50m butterfly heats in 28.39. — Sports Reporter/AFP
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