Share

Van der Burgh: World record will clinch title

Johannesburg - Cameron van der Burgh believes it will require a world record swim to successfully defend his 50m breaststroke title in the final of the Fina World Championship in Kazan, Russia on Wednesday.

The world record changed hands twice between Van der Burgh and Britain’s Adam Peaty as they continued their arm-wrestle for world breaststroke dominance.

“I am pleased to be in the final. It is going to be a really tough race between Adam Peaty and myself,” Van der Burgh said.

“It will definitely take a new world record to win the gold medal but I am still pleased from the morning going into the final.”

Van der Burgh highlighted his sensational form by improving his 50m breaststroke world record by 0.05 with a time of 26.62 during the morning heats before winning his semi-final in the evening with a time of 26.74

It was a case of whatever you do, I can do better as Peaty responded with a sizzling 26.42 swim to take 0.2 off Van der Burgh’s record in his semi-final in the evening.

The first round went Peaty on Tuesday when he dashed Van der Burgh’s dream of finally getting his hands on the 100m breaststroke after Australia’s Christian Sprenger denied him two years ago.

This time around the Briton cruelly touched 0.07 ahead of the South African after Van der Burgh led the race for 95 metres.

Peaty hit the wall in a time of 58.52 with Van der Burgh finishing in second place clocking 58.59 while Britain’s Ross Murdoch bagged the bronze in 59.09.

Meanwhile, Chad le Clos finished a topsy-turvy day on a high when he turned in a dominating performance in his 200m butterfly semi-final with a winning time of 1:54.50 from an outside lane.

Le Clos looked sluggish in the morning where he finished his heat in fourth place with a time of 1:56.92 scraping through with the 14th best time.

The 23-year-old said he would have to swim a personal best time to defend his title after Hungary’s Laszlo Cseh produced a world-leading time of 1:53.53 in his semi-final.

“The 200m fly was nice and comfortable through to the final, I have a really hard race coming up with Laszlo, who is a good friend,” Le Clos said.

“I think I am going to need a personal best (1:52.96), I think a 1:52 to win, it is going to be extremely difficult but I think I can get the win done.”

Compatriot Sebastien Rousseau, who finished seventh in his semi-final missing out on a final berth in the 200m butterfly, said he would now turn his attention to the 400m Individual Medley.

“Obviously wanted to make the final but it just wasn’t there so I just need to rest up and get ready for the 400m IM and do what I can to make it to the final,” Rousseau said.

Le Clos also featured in the 200m freestyle final where he touched in sixth place clocking 1:46.53 with Great Britain's James Guy winning the gold medal in 1:45.14 ahead of China's Sun Yang and Germany's Paul Biedermann.

“I am obviously disappointed not to get up there. Before I came to this meet I said I wanted to be top five in the 200m freestyle to give me a chance to win next year and I was sixth which is okay,” he said.

“Tomorrow night is very important to me and also the 100m fly, so it is going to be really close and I hope to get my hand on the wall first.”

Freestyle specialist Myles Brown once again tasted disappointment missing out on a final in his third event.

Brown could not get past the heats in the 800m freestyle after crashing out in the semi-finals of the 200m and 400m freestyle events earlier in the championships.

The South African swimmers will have a break from morning swimming with only Le Clos and Van der Burgh featuring in their respective finals on Wednesday evening.

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Should Siya Kolisi keep the captaincy as the Springboks build towards their World Cup title defence in 2027?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Yes! Siya will only be 36 at the next World Cup. He can make it!
26% - 1273 votes
No! I think the smart thing to do is start again with a younger skipper ...
29% - 1470 votes
I'd keep Siya captain for now, but look to have someone else for 2027.
45% - 2247 votes
Vote
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE