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Team SA shine, sink in pool

Cape Town - Despite the current turmoil at Swimming South Africa (SSA), the SA swimming team has finished in a tie for fifth on the medals table at the recently concluded 15th FINA World Championships in Barcelona.

South Africa's three golds, a silver and a bronze were a vast improvement on their three bronzes from Shanghai in 2011.

Chad le Clos' two golds (100m and 200m butterfly), Cameron van der Burgh's gold (50m breaststroke) and silver (100m breaststroke) and Giulio Zorzi's surprise bronze in the 50m breaststroke, saw South Africa finish alongside Hungary in the medal table.

The United States predictably finished atop the standings with 13 golds, eight silvers and eight bronzes.

In the other disciplines at the World Championship, Team SA endured something of a nightmare two weeks.

Not a single diver advanced to the semi-finals, while Chad Ho's fourth in the 5km open water swim was the best result for an otherwise forgettable fortnight for the six-strong SA open water swim team.

The SA synchronised swimming flopped, while the waterpolo teams fared dismally.

The men's waterpolo side lost all three of their group matches - to Canada 17-11, USA 16-3 and Croatia 19-0 - and were then beaten 13-5 by Greece in the Round of 16.

The women's side fared little better, losing all three of their group matches - to China 17-2, New Zealand 13-7 and Australia 16-1 - and were then beaten 22-3 by Russia in the Round of 16.

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