World record holder in the 50m breaststroke Cameron van der Burgh clinched his second gold medal at the All Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique, on Tuesday as he won his specialist event in 27.81 seconds.
The South African swimming team added 12 medals to the 11 they won on Monday with four gold, three silver, and five bronze.
The 23-year-old Van der Burgh was challenged from the start, but accelerated with each stroke to beat Malick Fall of Senegal and Nabil Kebbab of Algeria.
Van der Burgh took a swipe at fellow South African swimmers who had snubbed the Games.
“People don’t realise what an honour it is to represent your country and declining is disgraceful,” he said.
“I expected two golds coming here and being the world record holder there is an expectation. Time is not important, but the medals are.”
Chad le Clos participated in the first final of the evening, the men’s 100m butterfly, where he lost out on the gold by the smallest of margins to African record holder Jason Dunford, of Kenya.
The Kenyan led from the start, but Le Clos kept an eye on him for most of the race and swam hard over the final stretch.
However, Dunford touched first, winning in 52.13sec with Le Clos shortly behind him in 52.17sec, a personal best.
Fine form
Fellow South African Neil Watson finished third in 55.14.
Le Clos had little time to relax as he lined up in the men’s 400m individual medley just two races later.
The 19-year-old found the going much easier than in the first race and took the lead from the start, but lost some ground in the breaststroke as Tunisia’s Taki Mrabet took the lead.
When switching to the freestyle, Le Clos pulled away and touched first in 4:16.88. Mrabet finished second in 4:21.88 and Riaan Schoeman third in 4:25.32.
Karin Prinsloo, who won three gold medals on the first-day of the five-day gala, was in fine form again as she dominated proceedings in the women’s 200m freestyle.
She pulled away from the rest of the field from the outset and opened up a five-metre gap as she swam the final stretch to win in 1:59.84.
While Prinsloo had a seemingly easy time in the pool, her compatriot Natasha de Vos had to work to secure the bronze in 2:06.20.
Suzaan van Biljon won her first medal of the Games in the women’s 200m breaststroke, beating Sarra Lajnef of Tunisia to the finish in 2:31.53.
Kathryn Meaklim finished third in 2:36.16, adding a bronze medal to the silver she won on Monday.
Veteran swimmer Mandy Loots won her second silver medal at the Games, finishing behind Farida Osman of Egypt in the women’s 50m butterfly in 27.08sec.
The final event of the evening, the men’s 800m freestyle, was won by Tunisia’s Ahmed Mathlouthi in 8:10.00, with South African Mark Randall clinching silver in 8:10.04 and compatriot Jasper Venter settling for bronze in 8:21.76. — Sapa