{"id":12202,"date":"2026-04-16T07:29:48","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T05:29:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kznaquatics.co.za\/?p=12202"},"modified":"2026-04-16T07:29:51","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T05:29:51","slug":"canny-leads-im-thriller-as-six-swimmers-book-commonwealth-spots-in-gqeberha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kznaquatics.co.za\/?p=12202","title":{"rendered":"Canny leads IM thriller as six swimmers book Commonwealth spots in Gqeberha"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

PRESS RELEASE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

15 April 2026 \u2013 Six swimmers achieved Commonwealth Games qualifying times on the second day of the Bombela Concession Company SA Swimming Championships in Gqeberha on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The women\u2019s 200m individual medley proved to be the highlight of the evening, producing a massive battle between the in-form Aimee Canny and defending champion Rebecca Meder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meder had already dipped just under the Commonwealth Games qualifying time by one hundredth of a second in the morning heats, finishing in 2:12.82. After a thrilling duel in the evening final, it was Canny who was the quicker of the two, claiming the title to add to her 200m freestyle and 100m breaststroke golds from the opening night of competition in a time of 2:10.90 with Meder second in 2:11.29 \u2013 both well under the qualifying time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat was a really exciting race. I knew coming into it, it was going to be really fun tonight,\u201d said Canny afterwards. \u201cI knew Rebecca was going to be there the whole way of that race and it was really fun to kind of swim with her, and I knew we were in it together,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While happy to have qualified, Meder wasn\u2019t too happy with her time. \u201cI wanted a 2:10. But I don’t even think I’m fully tapered coming into this competition. The goal was just to get the job done\u2026 it’s been good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were also two qualifiers in the men\u2019s 50m backstroke, with both Pieter Coetz\u00e9 and Ruard van Renen dipping under the required mark. Coetz\u00e9 took the title in 24.54 seconds after swimming the exact same time in the morning heats, while Van Renen was second in 24.93 seconds, just one hundredth of a second slower than his morning time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coetz\u00e9 admitted afterwards that he was surprised to have swum the same time. \u201cI didn’t even warm up this morning, so I feel like I felt a bit cold this morning,\u201d he explained afterwards. \u201cI felt better tonight, but the 50 is such a strange thing, you never know. You can feel good and swim a terrible time or you can feel very bad and swim a great time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don’t really train for the 50, I train for the 200, so I feel like I’m not super consistent in the 50 yet, but it’s a good time, I’ll take it for this time of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A thrilled Van Renen added: \u201cThe 50 is always fun. It\u2019s always just a splash and dash, so didn’t expect much, so was just super happy\u2026 It’s always fun to race Pieter as well. He is super quick and he\u2019s been pushing me a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the women\u2019s 50m backstroke, it was 18-year-old Jessica Thompson who added her name to the list of Commonwealth Games qualifiers. The national record holder also already achieved the qualifying time in the morning heats with a mark of 27.94 seconds and then went quicker in the evening final, taking the title in 27.79 seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking of achieving the qualifying time in the heats, Thompson admitted: \u201cI think it was such a relief, like I was really worried about getting that qualifying time. I\u2019ve got it a few times throughout the season. So I think just getting it in the final and the prelim was a big relief and a big help for me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Erin Gallagher also added her name to the list of Commonwealth Games qualifiers, powering to victory in the 100m butterfly in 57.36 seconds, just four hundredths of a second off the SA and African record she set at the National Championships in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had no idea what I was going to swim tonight. So to see a 57-low is very surprising and I’m very happy about that. [My coach] Rocco said, \u2018Whatever you do tonight, you have to go under 58.\u2019 So I was like, \u2018If I don’t, I\u2019m walking home.\u2019 So I\u2019m very glad that I went under the 58,\u201d she joked afterwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other victories on the night went to Chad le Clos, who was relieved to reclaim his 100m butterfly title in 52.18 seconds, but missed out on the qualifying time. Karl Albertyn took the 200m individual medley in a time of 2:02.40, and Stephanie Houtman claimed top honours in the 1500m freestyle in 16:33.77. The men\u2019s 1500m freestyle was won by Matthew Caldwell in 15:46.91.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Para events, Kat Swanepoel celebrated another national record. Having claimed SB4 50m breaststroke and S5 100m backstroke records on the opening night of competition, the former world champion set another new SA mark in the S5 50m freestyle on Wednesday in 44.04 seconds<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLast Nationals and many times in the last year I didn’t think I was making it back. I\u2019ve really battled my health and just so many challenges,\u201d explained Swanepoel afterwards. \u201cBut the love of swimming kept me going through it. It was just to come down not expecting the times\u2026 or to be bogged down by that, but just celebrate life, just having breath in you and being able to do something that I love. And that was the biggest goal, so to be able to be swimming good times, I mean you just can’t ask for more than that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commonwealth Games qualifiers achieved at the Bombela Concession Company SA Swimming Championships 2026:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aimee Canny: 200m freestyle, 100m breaststroke, 200m individual medley<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pieter Coetz\u00e9: 50, 100m backstroke<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Erin Gallagher: 100m butterfly<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rebecca Meder: 200m individual medley<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jessica Thompson: 50m backstroke<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ruard van Renen: 50, 100m backstroke<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PRESS RELEASE 15 April 2026 \u2013 Six swimmers achieved Commonwealth Games qualifying times on the second day of the Bombela Concession Company SA Swimming Championships…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":9789,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kznaquatics.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12202"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kznaquatics.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kznaquatics.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kznaquatics.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kznaquatics.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12202"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kznaquatics.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12203,"href":"https:\/\/kznaquatics.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12202\/revisions\/12203"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kznaquatics.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kznaquatics.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kznaquatics.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kznaquatics.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}