Teen swimmer Lara van Niekerk won South Africa’s first gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham over the weekend.
The 19-year-old speedster charged up on the rest of the field to clinch the gold medal in a new Commonwealth Games record of 29.73s at the Sandwell Aquatics Centre in Birmingham on Saturday night.
The victory signalled South Africa’s first gong at the Games.
British swimmer Imogen Clark grabbed the silver medal in 30.02, while Chelsea Hodges of Australia secured the bronze in 30.05.
South Africa’s two other finalists, Tatjana Schoenmaker and Kaylene Corbett, finished fourth (30.41) and sixth respectively (31.10).
Van Niekerk’s mark was the third time she broke the Commonwealth Games record in Birmingham, having clocked 29.82 in the heats and 29.80 in the semifinals.
In the final, Clark was in the lead for most of the race, but Van Niekerk turned on the heat in the last 15 metres to touch the wall first.
Van Niekerk admits that she was nervous heading into the race and is quoted by Sport24 as saying: “I was freaking out, to be honest, I literally said to my coach, I’m freaking out, I’m going to explode.”
Double gold for SA swimmers in Birmingham: https://t.co/HZlsT1KcwY#TeamSA🇿![CDATA[]]>🇦 #CommonwealthGames2022 #Birmingham #UnitedKingdom pic.twitter.com/hiRI5XR4jF
— Swimming South Africa (@SwimSouthAfrica) July 31, 2022
She wasn’t the only teen to win gold for Team SA, with 18-year-old Pieter Coetze getting the country’s second gold medal.
Coetze won gold in the men’s 100m backstroke final on Saturday night, touching down in 53.78s just ahead of England’s Brodie Williams in a time of, with Australia’s Bradley Woodward in third.
The success of our young athletes at the Commonwealth Games is testimony to what the youth of South Africa are capable of when given the opportunity to shine. Indeed, young people of South Africa are a bunch of winners! 🥇![CDATA[]]>🇿![CDATA[]]>🇦#TeamSA pic.twitter.com/AnshmHiBZn
— Reyaaz Scharneck (@Rey_Scharneck) July 31, 2022