Meder swims to world champs qualifier as Chelius calls time

Rebecca Meder wrapped up the SA Short Course Championships in Durban with another swimming world championships qualifying time on Sunday.

The 22-year-old claimed an emphatic victory in the 200m breaststroke, dipping under the 2min 20sec mark for the first time to finish in 2:19.77. The win adds to her list of events for the World Short Course Championships in Budapest, Hungary, from December 10 to 15.

“I wanted to see what I could do and try not to force the speed but let the speed carry through, and to finish on a 2:19 is incredible,” a thrilled Meder said.

“That the breaststroke is so strong shows I need to work on my other three as the medley is my main event. But I’m really happy with the breaststroke and we’ll see where it takes me.”

Earlier in the day, Emma Chelius swam the final event of her career, winning the 4x50m medley relay with Tuks teammates Kerryn Herbst, Georgia Els and Caitlin de Lange in a new SA record time of 1:50.95.

The 28-year-old enjoyed a successful international career, competing at the World Championships, Commonwealth Games and African Championships. The highlight came in 2021 when she represented SA at the Tokyo Olympics. She reached the semifinals of the 50m freestyle, breaking the national record twice in the heats and semifinal.

Chelius said after her final race: “I’ve gone through the whole spectrum of emotions in the past few days leading up to this. I think I’ve processed all the bittersweet heartache of leaving the sport, so today I felt excited. The race went by in a blur, and having my family here to support me was the cherry on top.”

While one swimmer was coming to the end of her career, another is about to kick his off at international level. Kris Mihaylov, 16, picked up his third national title of the week on Sunday, winning the 1,500m freestyle in 14:57.56.

Mihaylov’s other titles came in the 200m freestyle and the 800m freestyle, dipping under the world championship qualifying time in the longer event and breaking the national record set by Ryk Neethling 24 years ago.

Neethling, who went on to win Olympic gold in Athens in 2004, hailed the rising star for his record-breaking swim.