Other Sport
Meaklim leads girl power charge
2008-10-16 15:14
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Durban - Durban-based swimming star Kathryn Meaklim will be looking to continue her success when she joins a host of South African stars striving to collect international ranking points and prize money, when the second leg of the short course FINA/Arena Swimming World Cup takes place at the Kings Park Aquatics Centre in Durban on Friday and Saturday.
With Swimming SA’s sponsor Telkom having created a R25 000 incentive for the first South African to better a world record at the two-day swimming showpiece event in Durban, the motivation levels of the local swimmers are expected to have reached new heights.
Meaklim, 19, was in fine form in the opening leg of the FINA/Arena Swimming World Cup held in Belo Horizonte, Brazil last weekend, taking the honours in the 400 metres freestyle in 4 minutes 14.95 secs, the 800m freestyle in 8:49.76 and the 400m individual medley in 4;38.11.
SA team-mate Mandy Loots took the 200m butterfly win in Belo Horizonte, clocking 2:09.78, with Meaklim next best in 2;10.92.
"I am quite strong on the turns in the 25 metres short course swimming pool and my height certainly assists me," said African 800m freestyle record-holder Meaklim, who collected seven titles at the SA Short Course Championships, held in Germiston last month.
"I am delighted with my form and hope that I can carry it through to this weekend’s event in Durban, in which I will be competing in the 800m freestyle, 200m and 400m individual medley races and the 200m butterfly.
One of the highlights
Women’s swimming in SA is definitely moving in the right direction, and swimmers like Mandy Loots, Melissa Corfe and Jessica Pengelly, are just a few who are able to provide swimming enthusiasts with many moments of excitement this weekend.”
Loots, a three-time Olympian, will be part of the line up in the 50, 100 and 200 metres butterfly as well as the 200 metres individual medley.
Corfe, fresh from her second-place finish in the Gold Coast mile in Australia last weekend, will be in action in the 200, 400 and 800 metres freestyle, and in the 100 and 200 metres backstroke.
Another Olympian in the form of Somerset West-based Jessica Pengelly will take to the water in the 200 metres freestyle, 200 and 400 metres individual medley, 200 metres backstroke and the 200 metres breaststroke.
Olympic breaststroke star Suzaan van Biljon, who claimed gold in the 200 metres breaststroke at the FINA World Short Course Championships held in Manchester, England in April this year, will be in action in the 50, 100 and 200 metres breaststroke events.
In the men’s competition, the 100 metres backstroke showdown between American-based backstroke stars Randall Bal (50,49 season best) and Peter Marshall (51.75), as well as Russian Evgeny Aleshin (52.71), and South Africans Garth Tune and George du Rand, is expected to be one of the highlights of the weekend’s programme.
Cameron van der Burgh, who claimed silver and bronze in the 100 metres and 50 metres breaststroke at the international short course showpiece in Manchester earlier this year, will be in action in the breaststroke races, along with Soweto swim star Thabang Moeketsane and world championship 200 metres breaststroke bronze medallist William Diering.