After seven days of competition, the SA team are seventh in the overall table with 22 medals (six gold, eight silver and eight bronze).
Backstroke star Pieter Coetzé raked in two more medals, leading the charge as South Africa’s swimmers closed out a superb campaign in the pool at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on Wednesday night.
With the swimming competition concluding on the seventh day of competition at the multi-sport Games, the SA team secured six more medals to wrap up a spectacular showing in the Scottish city.
Coetzé shone again, finishing with a total of six podium places at the quadrennial spectacle.
He coasted to a comfortable victory in the men’s 100m backstroke final, setting a new Games record of 51.77 seconds to win gold, with countryman Ruard van Renen grabbing bronze in 53.31.
Later in the evening session, Coetzé joined Van Renen, Chad le Clos and Michael Houlie as they claimed the bronze medal in the men’s 4x100m medley relay, completing the eight-length race in 3:38.98.
It was a record-breaking performance for Le Clos, who claimed his 21st career Commonwealth Games medal, making history as the most decorated athlete in any sport at the quadrennial showpiece.
Swimming finals
Meanwhile, Christian Sadie shone in the S7 men’s 50m freestyle final, winning gold in 28.06.
It was Sadie’s third successful medal in the same event at the Games after earning silver in Gold Coast in 2018 and bronze in Birmingham in 2022.
Kaylene Corbett secured silver in the women’s 200m breaststroke in 2:24.26, with compatriots Aimee Canny (2:25.05) and Rebecca Meder (2:30.25) finishing fifth and eighth respectively.
And Canny and Meder joined Olivia Nel and Erin Gallagher as they claimed bronze in the women’s 4x100m medley relay event in 3:58.58, setting a new African record.
In other finals in the pool, Caitlin de Lange (24.98) and Jessica Thompson (25.06) completed the women’s 50m freestyle in fifth and sixth positions, and Calvyn Justus (23.53) ended seventh in the men’s 50m butterfly.
With four days of competition remaining at the Games, swimmers were the only athletes in the national squad to have contributed to the country’s medal haul, having earned 22 podium positions.
Other sports
In the track and field competition on Wednesday, Collen Mahlalela finished sixth in the T47 men’s 100m final, clocking 11.31, while Yane van der Merwe was seventh in the women’s F42-44/F61-64 discus throw with a best attempt of 30.91m, and Ashley Erasmus settled for 10th place in the women’s shot put final with a 14.83m heave.
In weightlifting, Cheyenne Smith finished eighth in the women’s 86kg division, lifting a total of 186kg, and Nicholaas du Plooy did not register a result in the men’s 86kg division.
