Latest news with #ChrisSmith


The Citizen
13 hours ago
- Sport
- The Citizen
Chris Smith misses out on medal in close 50m breaststroke final in Singapore
The top six were separated by just 0.21 of a second in a thrilling final. South African breaststroke swimmer Chris Smith failed to medal in his first ever global long course final when he had to settle for sixth place in the final of the 50m breaststroke event at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore on Wednesday. In a tight and thrilling final, 19-year-old Smith was edged out in the one lap race where the top six were separated by just 0.21 of a second. 'Next time I'll try get on the podium' He clocked a time of 26.75 seconds, which shaved a further two-hundredths of a second off the personal best he had set in the semi-finals on Tuesday. It also places the Centurion swimmer just 0.21 of a second away from 2012 100m breaststroke Olympic champion Cameron van der Burgh's national and continental record in the 50m event. Though he won't leave Singapore with a medal, Smith said he was still pleased with his effort. 'I'm super happy with how it went and everything. I still think that I can go a bit faster, but I just have to work on it. I just want to keep focused on my dive and my pull-out. I think those are the two main things where I lag behind a bit, but next time, definitely, I want to see if I can maybe get on the podium.' Thursday's action In other events on Wednesday, Matt Sates and Olivia Nel were in action in individual heats. Sates finished 28th overall in the 200m individual medley in 2:01.80, while, after finishing sixth in her heat, Nel was 23rd overall in the 50m backstroke in 28.23 seconds, with neither making it through to the semifinals. Fresh from his gold medal in the 100m backstroke on Tuesday, Pieter Coetzé led off the South African 4x100m mixed medley relay team of Kaylene Corbett, Erin Gallagher and Matthew Caldwell. They finished eighth in their heat and 18th overall in 3:52.03 to also miss out on the final. Thursday's programme in Singapore will see Coetzé returning to the pool for the heats of the 200m backstroke – the event in which he claimed bronze at last year's world championships. Gallagher will line up in the 100m freestyle, while Corbett and Rebecca Meder will take on the 200m breaststroke. The women's 4x200m freestyle relay team of Aimee Canny, Georgia Nel, Hannah Robertson and Catherine van Rensburg will also be in action.

TimesLIVE
2 days ago
- Sport
- TimesLIVE
Pieter Coetzé lands South Africa's first world champs medal in Singapore
Pieter Coetzé has won South Africa's first medal of the world swimming championships in Singapore, scooping gold in the men's 100m backstroke on Tuesday evening. Earlier in the evening session, Chris Smith delivered another personal best time as he finished second in his 50m breaststroke semifinal in 26.77, advancing to Wednesday's final seeded joint fifth overall. Smith got off to a slow start, but his powerful work on top of the water saw him making up much ground in the second half of the race, touching six-hundredths of a second behind Dutchman Koen de Groot. China's Haiyang Qin, the 100m breaststroke champion, won the second semifinal in 26.52.


eNCA
2 days ago
- Sport
- eNCA
Smith, Canny power into World Aquatics semis
SINGAPORE - Chris Smith has booked a place in the men's 50m breaststroke semi-finals at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore. Smith burst to victory in heat nine after touching the wall in just 26.82, ahead of Ilya Shymanovich of Belarus, who clocked 26.89. Nicolo Martinenghi of Italy was third with a time of 26.90, while the Netherlands' Caspar Corbeau completed the qualifiers in the heat at fourth place. Another South African, Aimee Canny, secured a semi-final berth in the women's 200m freestyle heats. Canny was third in heat three, finishing behind Barbora Seemanova of Czech Republic in second, while Australia's Jamie Perkins was first.

TimesLIVE
2 days ago
- Sport
- TimesLIVE
Chris Smith, Aimee Canny advance to world championship semifinals
Chris Smith and Aimee Canny advanced to the semifinals at the world championships in Singapore on Tuesday to ensure countryman Pieter Coetzé has company in the evening. Teenager Smith, a finalist at the world short-course championships in Budapest last year, powered into the final 16 of the 50m breaststroke as he won the final heat of the morning in a 26.82sec personal best. He was sixth fastest overall and will compete in lane three in the first of the two evening semifinals (1.36pm SA time). His time lifted him to joint second on South Africa's all-time list, level with Michael Houlie, who missed the gala after undergoing an emergency appendectomy. Former world record-holder Cameron van der Burgh tops the list on 26.54. Italy's junior world record-holder in this event, Simone Cerasuolo set the pace in the heats with 26.42, ahead of Japan's Taku Taniguchi (26.65) and 2024 European 100m breaststroke champion Melvin Imoudi of Germany (26.74). With the 50m races of the breaststroke, backstroke and butterfly being added to the Olympic programme, these three events are enjoying a lot more focus. Olympian Canny finished third in her 200m freestyle heat in 1min 57.53sec to rank eighth overall going into the evening semifinals (2.12pm SA time). Coetzé is in action in the 100m backstroke final at 1.59pm. So far five South Africans have advanced to the semifinals with Erin Gallagher and Rebecca Meder also making the top 16, although so far Coetzé is the only to have made a final.

The Herald
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Herald
Disappointment for SA swimmers on opening day of Singapore world champs
Gallagher wasn't too pleased with her swim, but happy with the speed shown in her opening 50 metres. 'I didn't realise that I had turned third, that's really cool, so I'm very happy with my front-end speed,' she said after the race. 'I think it's the fastest I've been out in the 100 before and it felt very comfortable and very chilled, so I think that's a very good sign for the 50, which is still in a couple of days. 'I just have to switch off from the race. Even though it didn't go the way I wanted it to, there are some good things to take away and look forward to the rest of the racing which is the 100 free and the 50 fly. 'There's still a long way to go. It's day one of the competition so I'm looking forward to the rest of my races and we'll see what we can produce. Hopefully the 50 fly will be a better outcome than this one.' Other South Africans in action in the heats earlier in the day were Aimee Canny, who finished 19th overall in the 200m individual medley heats after swimming a time of 2:12.70 and Chris Smith, who finished 25th overall in the 100m breaststroke with a time of 1:00.85. Hannah Robertson was 27th in the 400m freestyle heats in 4:22.69, while in the men's event, Matthew Caldwell was 39th in 4:01.45. The South African women's 4x100m freestyle relay team of twin sisters, Georgia and Olivia Nel, Cailtin de Lange and Hannah Robertson finished sixth in their heat in 3:45.33 and did not progress to the final. The World Aquatics Championships in Singapore continue on Monday, with Pieter Coetzé kicking off his campaign in the 100m backstroke while Meder will be back in action in the 100m breaststroke, Matt Sates in the 200m freestyle, and Catherine van Rensburg in the 1500m freestyle.