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Cameron van der Burgh breaks record in Hangzhou

Cameron van der Burgh
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Cameron van der Burgh produced a new championship record to win South Africa’s first gold medal at the World Short Course Swimming Championships in Hangzhou, China.

Van der Burgh won the final of the 100-metre breaststroke, an event he holds the world record in, to add gold to the silver medal won by Chad Le Clos on Tuesday.

Le Clos and Erin Gallagher will be South Africa’s medal prospects in Thursday’s 100-metre butterfly and 100-metre freestyle finals.

Van der Burgh had qualified sixth fastest for the final and a podium place or medal of any colour would have still made his supporters happy. But the 30-year-old, who won gold in the event at the 2016 Olympics in London, showed he still has what it takes and keeping his opponents in his wake for the first 75 metres.

However, the field caught up with him on the final lap with Japan’s Yasuhiro Koseki and Belarusian, Ilya Shymanov, posing the danger. But the experienced Van der Burgh touched the wall first to win the race in 56.01 seconds – a new championship record and just four 10ths of a second outside his own world record.

Le Clos, who is the world record holder in the 100-metre butterfly, swam a fast race to secure qualification for Thursday’s final. After being well ahead halfway through the race, he finished first in 49.07 seconds to qualify second fastest for Thursday’s final.

Another South African, Erin Gallagher was among the top three at the halfway mark of the women’s 100-metre freestyle. The 19-year-old finished sixth in her semi-final in 52.71 seconds to qualify seventh fastest overall.

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