South Africa led by Chad Le Clos, Cameron Van der Burgh, and Ayrton Sweeney collected seven medals in the 2017 Swimming World Cup in Berlin, Germany.
The trio won the country’s first three medals (2 silver and one gold) with Le Clos taking gold and silver in the men’s 50m butterfly and 100m freestyle, finishing with a time of 22:32 and 45:78 respectively.
The 25-year-old Olympic medalist and a Swimming World Magazine Swimmer of the Year, surpassed compatriot Lyndon Ferns’ 2009 record of 46.00 to become the first South African male swimmer to ever dip lower than 46 seconds in the men’s short course 100M freestyle.
South Africa later recorded its second silver after Van der Burgh finished in 56.38 in the men’s 100m breaststroke behind Russia’s Kirill Prigoda.
The remaining four medals – two gold and two bronze – were won in the 50m breaststroke, 200m butterfly, 200m freestyle, and 400m medley respectively.
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Following a silver medal win in the long course breaststroke, Van der Burgh finished first in 25.49 to win his first gold in Berlin.
Le Clos finished in 1:49.08 in the long course of the butterfly series ahead of USA’s Tom Shields who finished in 1:49.26 and Masayuki Umemoto (1:52.80), completing his double gold-win before earning a bronze in the 200m freestyle in a time of 1:41.67, behind Poland’s Kacper Majchrzak.
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The final medal that summed up the total of seven for South Africa went to Ayrton Sweeney who won a bronze in the 400m medley in 4:06.72, bringing the total number of medals won in two weeks to 12, in addition to the five (four gold and bronze) won in Russia last week.
Featured photos: Federation Internationale De Natation
