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Barcelona - Cameron van der Burgh, Giulio Zorzi and Chad le Clos qualified for the finals for South Africa at the World Swimming Championships in Barcelona on Tuesday evening.
Van der Burgh and Zorzi qualified for Wednesday's men’s 50m breaststroke final, while Le Clos is the favourite in the 200m butterfly final.
Le Clos, who stunned the swimming world last year at the Olympics when he beat US swimming star Michael Phelps to win gold in the 200m butterfly, was the fastest qualifier with a time of one minute, 55.33 seconds (1:55.33).
"There are a lot of guys out there with a focus, but for me it was important to win the semi-final, as it takes the pressure off me for tomorrow night," Le Clos said.
"I’m feeling very confident and relaxed for tomorrow."
He would try to stay with the rest of the field and then beat them on the last turn.
"Wu Peng of China (who finished 0.09 seconds behind Le Clos) had a good race and I was hoping that he'd die at the end, but he did not," Le Clos said.
World record holder Van der Burgh would also start his final as favourite after qualifying with the fastest time of 26.81 seconds. Zorzi managed 27.44, keeping out Brazilian Felipe Lima, who won bronze in the 100m breaststroke.
The 25-year-old Van der Burgh is pleased that two South African swimmers advanced to the final.
"I’m very happy for Giulio who is swimming at his first world championships and I wish him well," Van der Burgh said.
"I’ll pass on my experiences to help him pull through for tomorrow. Tomorrow anything can happen from any lane."
Van der Burgh, who won the silver medal in the 100m breaststroke on Monday, said he was better equipped for the 50m breaststroke event.
"Sometimes you focus too much on the world record or a gold medal and then it doesn’t happen. I’ll just focus on what I can control which is the swim. The 50m is better suited to the skills I have and the training I have done."
Zorzi, who would be swimming in his first final at a major championship, said he was happy with his performance.
"I felt really good in the warm-up and had a great start, but in the race there were one or two things that didn’t go well and I’ll correct them for tomorrow," he said.
World Championships results on Tuesday (finals only):
Men:
200m freestyle:
1. Yannick Agnel (FRA) 1:44.20
2. Conor Dwyer (USA) 1:45.32
3. Danila Izotov (RUS) 1:45.59
4. Ryan Lochte (USA) 1:45.65
5. Kosuke Hagino (JPN) 1:45.94
6. Robert Renwick (GBR) 1:46.52
7. Cameron McEvoy (AUS) 1:46.63
8. Thomas Fraser-Holmes (AUS) 1:47.11
100m backstroke:
1. Ashley Delaney (AUS) 53.74
2. Camille Lacourt (FRA) 53.42
3. Jeremy Stravius (FRA) 53.23
4. Matt Grevers(USA) 52.97
5. David Plummer (USA) 53.10
6. Ryosuke Irie (JPN) 53.41
7. Kosuke Hagino(JPN) 53.68
8. Gareth Kean (NZ) 53.81
Women:
100m backstroke:
1. Missy Franklin (USA) 58.42
2. Emily Seebohm (AUS) 59.06
3. Aya Terakawa (JPN) 59.23
4. Elizabeth Pelton (USA) 59.45
5. Yuanhui Fu (CHN) 59.61
6. Simona Baumrtova (CZE) 59.84
7. Daryna Zevina (UKR) 1:00.16
8. Belinda Hocking (AUS) 1:00.29
100m breaststroke:
1. Ruta Meilutyte(LTU) 1:04.42
2. Yuliya Efimova(RUS) 1:05.02
3. Jessica Hardy (USA) 1:05.52
4. RikkeMoller Pedersen(DEN) 1:05.93
5. Breeja Larson (USA) 1:06.74
6. Viktoriya Solnceva(UKR) 1:06.81
7. Marina GarciaUrzainqui(ESP) 1:07.08
8. Jennie Johansson(SWE) 1:07.41
1500m freestyle:
1. Katie Ledecky (USA) 15:36.53 (WR)
2. Lotte Friis (DEN) 15:38.88
3. Lauren Boyle (NZ) 15:44.71
4. Mireia Belmonte Garcia (ESP) 15:58.83
5. Danlu Xu (CHN) 16:00.44
6. KristelKobrich Schimpl (CHI) 16:01.94
7. Boglarka Kapas (HUN) 16:06.89
8. Chloe Sutton (USA) 16:09.65
