Olympic veteran Kaylene Corbett bids to land her maiden senior South African long-course crown in the 200m breaststroke at the national championships in Gqeberha on Friday night.
Corbett, a finalist in this event at the Olympics in Paris and Tokyo, was the quickest in the morning heats, clocking 2min 27.13sec, but she will have to see off high-riding Rebecca Meder, who is seeking her third title of this gala.
Meder, the 100m breaststroke champion here, won her heat in a 2:27.68 personal best and she and Corbett will also be eyeing the 2:25.91 automatic qualifying time for the world championships in Singapore later this year.
Corbett has a 2:22.06 best.
Until now she has had to compete against Olympic star and training partner Tatjana Smith, who retired after the Paris Games last year.
To date, 25-year-old Corbett has not won a national title at a senior long-course championships.
Pieter Coetzé and Guy Brooks were the only swimmers to dip under 50 seconds in the men’s 100m freestyle heats.
Coetzé, the defending champion, was the quickest in 49.18, with Brooks clocking 49.39. The qualifying mark in this event is 48.34.
Matthew Sates cruised to pole position in the men’s 400m individual medley, touching in 4:34.11. But he’ll need to swim a personal best if he’s to make the 4:17.48 automatic qualifying standard.
Olivia Nel set the pace in the women’s 100m freestyle in 55.77 to earn the top seeding for the evening showdown ahead of Erin Gallagher (55.82) and Caitlin de Lange (56.00).
The qualifying standard is 54.25.
Matthew Randle was the fastest in the men’s 200m breaststroke heats, clocking 2:16.92, and he will need to go a lot faster to reach the 2:10.32 Singapore criterion.
Sofia French was quickest in the women’s 400m IM in 5:01.21. The world championship mark is 4:37.11.
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