DAVID ISAACSON, Durban | Saturday 4.00pm.
COMMONWEALTH Games silver medallist Ryk Neethling will become the first South African to lift the national 100m, 200m, 400m and 1500m freestyle titles in one year if he wins the mile at the Telkom South African swimming championships in Durban on Saturday night.
The psychology student at Arizona University, who has owned the African records for the 200m, 400m and 1500m for years, snatched the 100m crown and continental mark in a sensational last-gasp victory on Friday night.
“Nobody has ever won those four freestyle events at one nationals. I want to do it,” said 21-year-old Neethling, who retained his 400m title later on Friday evening. He won the 200m freestyle on Wednesday.
Double Olympic breaststroke champion Penny Heyns, swimming the women’s 200m individual medley for fun and to “show people how not to swim backstroke”, still managed the fastest time of the heats.
The 24-year-old 50m and 100m breaststroke world record-holder clocked 2mins 21,46secs. African record-holder Mandy Loots (CG), however, took her heat easy and was marginally slower in 2:21,55.
Loots and Neethling, each with three golds so far, are the only swimmers in contention to win four individual titles this week. Commonwealth 50m freestyle silver medallist Brendon Dedekind and KwaZulu-Natal teammate Nicholas Folker — who finished third and second respectively behind Neethling in Friday’s 100m final — were the fastest in the men’s 50m heats.