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MEDIA STATEMENT The SA Games finish on a high note for the young swimming talent 7 October 2011 For immediate release Alani Ferreira and Ethan Paulse added three more golds to their tally on the final day of the SA Games Swimming programme that ended at the Polokwane Municipality Swimming Pool yesterday, Thursday, 6th October 2011. Swimming in the multi-disability section, KZN’s Ferreira kept her unbeaten record intact as she took eight gold medals overall. The 13-year-old raced to a 43.85sec in the women’s 50m butterfly, 1:36.62 in the 100m backstroke and a 36.93sec in the 50m freestyle. Paulse (WP) won the 50m butterfly in a fast 30.68sec, the 100m backstroke in 1:19.11 and the 50m freestyle in another outstanding 28.72sec – dominating the men’s section of the multi-disability section. Among the able-bodied swimmers, Alexio dos Santos (North West) raced to his third gold of the tournament with an encouraging performance in the men’s 400m freestyle, clocking 4:36.53 as the battle for the minor medals saw Yasien Meth (KZN) edge out Paul Tallie by 0.89sec in 4:42.05. The women’s 400m freestyle produced more excitement with Samantha Young (Gauteng) stopping KZN’s Megan Singh from winning her third gold. Young took the close race in 5:00.55 with Singh on 5:01.07 and Justine Jagga (WP) also in the challenge to end with the bronze in 5:01.68. The 50m butterfly events also got the crowd off their seats. The women’s event saw Artemis Spyropoulos (Gauteng) edge out teammate Tarryn Holmes by a mere 0.11sec for the gold in 31.43sec. Third place went to Tina Bahlmann (EC) in 32.79sec. Chris Delport (Gauteng) had to work hard for his victory in the men’s 50m butterfly, touching in a fast 28.15sec with Luke Coetzee (EC) challenging with a 28.28sec swim. The versatile William Brann (EC) bagged the bronze in 29.19sec. Brann was involved another two bronze medal performances. In the 100m backstroke, Brann came within 0.53sec of a victory as SJ de Kock (MP) won in 1:08.52 with Jedd Cairns (WP) even closer on 1:08.62. Then in the 50m freestyle, it was Hannes Hamer (MP) who overcame the line-up to win in 26.49sec. Wouter Zonnestein (WP) clocked 26.75sec to edge out Brann with a 26.78sec dash. While Emma-Leigh Torry (KZN) won the women’s 100m backstroke by 0.82sec ahead of Sam Blaauw (NW) in 1:12.21 – it was the women’s 50m freestyle that provided the closest finish of all. Mae du Plessis (WP) stopped Artemis Spyropoulos from winning her second gold for the day by 0.01sec, clocking 29.20sec. Also in the challenge ending with the bronze medal, was Tarryn Holmes (Gauteng) who touched in 29.32sec. Kwa-Zulu Natal survived a strong challenge from Gauteng on the final day as the lead overall was eroded away to just 0.5 points, with the coastal team ending overall winners on 441.5 points. Western Province also closed on the leaders to end third on 436.5 points. ENDS
For further information please contact: Swimming South Africa Marketing and Communications Manager Godfrey Monei 071 902 2508 Swimming South Africa is the governing body of aquatics in South Africa. Its objective is to encourage the practice of aquatic disciplines for all in South Africa with the purpose of promoting swimming as a life skill through Learn To Swim programmes; providing healthy exercise to South Africans of all ages and races; recruiting recreational swimmers to compete in the various competitions; and promoting competition and athlete development to the highest level. Swimming South Africa is kindly sponsored by Telkom, National Lotteries Distribution Trust Fund, Arena, Sport & Recreation SA, and the Department of Water Affairs.
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