All Article Properties:
{
"access_control": false,
"status": "publish",
"objectType": "Article",
"id": "2126723",
"signature": "Article:2126723",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-04-09-erin-gallagher-breaks-national-record-as-big-names-make-a-splash-at-sa-swimming-championships/",
"shorturl": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2126723",
"slug": "erin-gallagher-breaks-national-record-as-big-names-make-a-splash-at-sa-swimming-championships",
"contentType": {
"id": "1",
"name": "Article",
"slug": "article"
},
"views": 0,
"comments": 0,
"preview_limit": null,
"excludedFromGoogleSearchEngine": 0,
"title": "Erin Gallagher breaks national record as big names make a splash at SA Swimming Championships",
"firstPublished": "2024-04-09 00:24:28",
"lastUpdate": "2024-04-09 00:24:28",
"categories": [
{
"id": "29",
"name": "South Africa",
"signature": "Category:29",
"slug": "south-africa",
"typeId": {
"typeId": "1",
"name": "Daily Maverick",
"slug": "",
"includeInIssue": "0",
"shortened_domain": "",
"stylesheetClass": "",
"domain": "staging.dailymaverick.co.za",
"articleUrlPrefix": "",
"access_groups": "[]",
"locale": "",
"preview_limit": null
},
"parentId": null,
"parent": [],
"image": "",
"cover": "",
"logo": "",
"paid": "0",
"objectType": "Category",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/category/south-africa/",
"cssCode": "",
"template": "default",
"tagline": "",
"link_param": null,
"description": "Daily Maverick is an independent online news publication and weekly print newspaper in South Africa.\r\n\r\nIt is known for breaking some of the defining stories of South Africa in the past decade, including the Marikana Massacre, in which the South African Police Service killed 34 miners in August 2012.\r\n\r\nIt also investigated the Gupta Leaks, which won the 2019 Global Shining Light Award.\r\n\r\nThat investigation was credited with exposing the Indian-born Gupta family and former President Jacob Zuma for their role in the systemic political corruption referred to as state capture.\r\n\r\nIn 2018, co-founder and editor-in-chief Branislav ‘Branko’ Brkic was awarded the country’s prestigious Nat Nakasa Award, recognised for initiating the investigative collaboration after receiving the hard drive that included the email tranche.\r\n\r\nIn 2021, co-founder and CEO Styli Charalambous also received the award.\r\n\r\nDaily Maverick covers the latest political and news developments in South Africa with breaking news updates, analysis, opinions and more.",
"metaDescription": "",
"order": "0",
"pageId": null,
"articlesCount": null,
"allowComments": "1",
"accessType": "freecount",
"status": "1",
"children": [],
"cached": true
},
{
"id": "30",
"name": "Sport",
"signature": "Category:30",
"slug": "sport",
"typeId": {
"typeId": "1",
"name": "Daily Maverick",
"slug": "",
"includeInIssue": "0",
"shortened_domain": "",
"stylesheetClass": "",
"domain": "staging.dailymaverick.co.za",
"articleUrlPrefix": "",
"access_groups": "[]",
"locale": "",
"preview_limit": null
},
"parentId": null,
"parent": [],
"image": "",
"cover": "",
"logo": "",
"paid": "0",
"objectType": "Category",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/category/sport/",
"cssCode": "",
"template": "default",
"tagline": "",
"link_param": null,
"description": "",
"metaDescription": "",
"order": "0",
"pageId": null,
"articlesCount": null,
"allowComments": "1",
"accessType": "freecount",
"status": "1",
"children": [],
"cached": true
}
],
"content_length": 3856,
"contents": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Erin Gallagher broke her national record in the 50m butterfly event on Monday evening at the South African Swimming Championships with a time of 25.59 seconds — edging her 25.66 seconds at the World University Games at the end of last year.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The first day of action at the SA Swimming Championships was all about the short sprints, with all the single-lap, 50m events taking place on Monday at Newton Park Swimming Pool in Gqeberha. </span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2126625\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/TL_2198680.jpg\" alt=\"sa swimming championships tatjana smith\" width=\"720\" height=\"480\" /> <em>Tatjana Smith on her way to gold in the women’s 50m breaststroke on day one of the SA National Aquatic Championships in Gqeberha. (Photo: Anton Geyser / Gallo Images)</em></p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">South Africa’s premier swimmers were on show and the spectators weren’t disappointed as Olympic champion Tatjana Smith — formerly Schoenmaker — and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Pieter Coetzé put on a show in the 50m breaststroke and 50m backstroke, respectively. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Of all the 50m events, only the freestyle is an Olympic event, so most swimmers used day one of the national championships as a warm-up for the longer events in the same discipline — aiming for Olympic qualification. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“I’m not over the moon with the time,” 19-year-old Coetzé said. “It would have been very nice to go faster than that, but it’s a 50m so I’m just glad I could get a warm-up swim on day one going into the rest of the meet.</span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2126623\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/TL_2198669.jpg\" alt=\"sa swimming Pieter Coetzé\" width=\"720\" height=\"480\" /> <em>Pieter Coetzé in action during the men’s 50m backstroke one day one of the SA National Aquatic Championships at Newton Park Swimming Pool in Gqeberha on 8 April 2024. (Photo: Anton Geyser / Gallo Images)</em></p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“I felt very good in the race. I can’t really put my finger on anything that felt bad, but I’ll go have a look at the video and see what I can work on… I’m pretty happy with where I’m at now.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Coetzé raced to a 24.54-second win in the 50m backstroke, beating out Henju Duvenhage (25.25) and Jonah Pool-Jones (25.53). </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Smith (30.09), meanwhile had to fight hard for her 50m breaststroke gold medal, only just beating out African record-holder in the event Lara van Niekerk (30.16). Simone Moll (31.06) rounded off the podium finishes. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“To start off with, the 50m just breaks the ice. No main events, no Olympic qualifying events; that just helps get ready for the rest of the gala,” Smith said. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“I know it’s not really the same, but most of the time if I feel on the water for the 50m it means my 100m and 200m could possibly be a good one as well. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“I don’t want to focus too far ahead and have big expectations, but it’s exciting to finally come closer to that 30 [seconds]. I hope one day to drop under that 30 seconds.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No Olympic qualifying times were achieved in the only two Olympic events that took place on Monday — the men’s 1,500m freestyle and the women’s 800m freestyle. Kushagra Rawat and Duné Coetzee won the events in 15:40.13 and 8:40.13, respectively.</span>\r\n<h4><b>Record-breaking Erin </b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But the big story of the day was Gallagher’s record-breaking sprint. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“This afternoon I had really good energy and I could feel that if I’m going to swim a PB [personal best], now is the time to do it,” said the 25-year-old, who earlier in the day won her heat in a time of 25.70 seconds.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gallagher will be aiming to achieve another spectacular finish in her main event, the 100m butterfly on Wednesday. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“It’s always nice to think that if you do a PB in one event, it means all the others are going to be good but it’s a completely different race with completely different strategies,” she said. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“The 50s are all about going as fast as possible, whereas the 100 is more of a controlled speed event. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“You never really know what to expect, but I’m looking forward to the rest of the event.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Monday night’s other winners included Jarden Eaton (24.18) in the men’s 50m butterfly, Tayla Jonker (28.75) in the women’s 50m backstroke and Michael Houlie (27.15) in the men’s 50m breaststroke. </span><b>DM</b>",
"teaser": "Erin Gallagher breaks national record as big names make a splash at SA Swimming Championships",
"externalUrl": "",
"sponsor": null,
"authors": [
{
"id": "245916",
"name": "Keanan Hemmonsbey",
"image": "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/IMG-20230509-WA0020-copy.jpg",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/author/keanan-hemmonsbey/",
"editorialName": "keanan-hemmonsbey",
"department": "",
"name_latin": ""
}
],
"description": "",
"keywords": [
{
"type": "Keyword",
"data": {
"keywordId": "10137",
"name": "Swimming",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/keyword/swimming/",
"slug": "swimming",
"description": "",
"articlesCount": 0,
"replacedWith": null,
"display_name": "Swimming",
"translations": null
}
},
{
"type": "Keyword",
"data": {
"keywordId": "349591",
"name": "Tatjana Schoenmaker",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/keyword/tatjana-schoenmaker/",
"slug": "tatjana-schoenmaker",
"description": "",
"articlesCount": 0,
"replacedWith": null,
"display_name": "Tatjana Schoenmaker",
"translations": null
}
},
{
"type": "Keyword",
"data": {
"keywordId": "381793",
"name": "Pieter Coetzé",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/keyword/pieter-coetze/",
"slug": "pieter-coetze",
"description": "",
"articlesCount": 0,
"replacedWith": null,
"display_name": "Pieter Coetzé",
"translations": null
}
},
{
"type": "Keyword",
"data": {
"keywordId": "400210",
"name": "Erin Gallagher",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/keyword/erin-gallagher/",
"slug": "erin-gallagher",
"description": "",
"articlesCount": 0,
"replacedWith": null,
"display_name": "Erin Gallagher",
"translations": null
}
},
{
"type": "Keyword",
"data": {
"keywordId": "416871",
"name": "Tatjana Smith",
"url": "https://staging.dailymaverick.co.za/keyword/tatjana-smith/",
"slug": "tatjana-smith",
"description": "",
"articlesCount": 0,
"replacedWith": null,
"display_name": "Tatjana Smith",
"translations": null
}
}
],
"short_summary": null,
"source": null,
"related": [],
"options": [],
"attachments": [
{
"id": "87880",
"name": "Pieter Coetzé in action during the men’s 50m backstroke one day one of the SA National Aquatic Championships at Newton Park Swimming Pool in Gqeberha on 8 April, 2024. (Photo: Anton Geyser / Gallo Images)",
"description": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Erin Gallagher broke her national record in the 50m butterfly event on Monday evening at the South African Swimming Championships with a time of 25.59 seconds — edging her 25.66 seconds at the World University Games at the end of last year.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The first day of action at the SA Swimming Championships was all about the short sprints, with all the single-lap, 50m events taking place on Monday at Newton Park Swimming Pool in Gqeberha. </span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2126625\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"720\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-2126625\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/TL_2198680.jpg\" alt=\"sa swimming championships tatjana smith\" width=\"720\" height=\"480\" /> <em>Tatjana Smith on her way to gold in the women’s 50m breaststroke on day one of the SA National Aquatic Championships in Gqeberha. (Photo: Anton Geyser / Gallo Images)</em>[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">South Africa’s premier swimmers were on show and the spectators weren’t disappointed as Olympic champion Tatjana Smith — formerly Schoenmaker — and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Pieter Coetzé put on a show in the 50m breaststroke and 50m backstroke, respectively. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Of all the 50m events, only the freestyle is an Olympic event, so most swimmers used day one of the national championships as a warm-up for the longer events in the same discipline — aiming for Olympic qualification. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“I’m not over the moon with the time,” 19-year-old Coetzé said. “It would have been very nice to go faster than that, but it’s a 50m so I’m just glad I could get a warm-up swim on day one going into the rest of the meet.</span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2126623\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"720\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-2126623\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/TL_2198669.jpg\" alt=\"sa swimming Pieter Coetzé\" width=\"720\" height=\"480\" /> <em>Pieter Coetzé in action during the men’s 50m backstroke one day one of the SA National Aquatic Championships at Newton Park Swimming Pool in Gqeberha on 8 April 2024. (Photo: Anton Geyser / Gallo Images)</em>[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“I felt very good in the race. I can’t really put my finger on anything that felt bad, but I’ll go have a look at the video and see what I can work on… I’m pretty happy with where I’m at now.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Coetzé raced to a 24.54-second win in the 50m backstroke, beating out Henju Duvenhage (25.25) and Jonah Pool-Jones (25.53). </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Smith (30.09), meanwhile had to fight hard for her 50m breaststroke gold medal, only just beating out African record-holder in the event Lara van Niekerk (30.16). Simone Moll (31.06) rounded off the podium finishes. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“To start off with, the 50m just breaks the ice. No main events, no Olympic qualifying events; that just helps get ready for the rest of the gala,” Smith said. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“I know it’s not really the same, but most of the time if I feel on the water for the 50m it means my 100m and 200m could possibly be a good one as well. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“I don’t want to focus too far ahead and have big expectations, but it’s exciting to finally come closer to that 30 [seconds]. I hope one day to drop under that 30 seconds.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No Olympic qualifying times were achieved in the only two Olympic events that took place on Monday — the men’s 1,500m freestyle and the women’s 800m freestyle. Kushagra Rawat and Duné Coetzee won the events in 15:40.13 and 8:40.13, respectively.</span>\r\n<h4><b>Record-breaking Erin </b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But the big story of the day was Gallagher’s record-breaking sprint. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“This afternoon I had really good energy and I could feel that if I’m going to swim a PB [personal best], now is the time to do it,” said the 25-year-old, who earlier in the day won her heat in a time of 25.70 seconds.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gallagher will be aiming to achieve another spectacular finish in her main event, the 100m butterfly on Wednesday. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“It’s always nice to think that if you do a PB in one event, it means all the others are going to be good but it’s a completely different race with completely different strategies,” she said. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“The 50s are all about going as fast as possible, whereas the 100 is more of a controlled speed event. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“You never really know what to expect, but I’m looking forward to the rest of the event.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Monday night’s other winners included Jarden Eaton (24.18) in the men’s 50m butterfly, Tayla Jonker (28.75) in the women’s 50m backstroke and Michael Houlie (27.15) in the men’s 50m breaststroke. </span><b>DM</b>",
"focal": "50% 50%",
"width": 0,
"height": 0,
"url": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/TL_2198686_9e0a8a.jpg",
"transforms": [
{
"x": "200",
"y": "100",
"url": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/BhC5A-ErUP01zCUpT3ilAeELZRc=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif()/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/TL_2198686_9e0a8a.jpg"
},
{
"x": "450",
"y": "0",
"url": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/JddYhv1XBHl8swknKV0wv3miRvY=/450x0/smart/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/TL_2198686_9e0a8a.jpg"
},
{
"x": "800",
"y": "0",
"url": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/kgALpM9wysE5at3iAD7oRfLLNKE=/800x0/smart/filters:strip_exif()/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/TL_2198686_9e0a8a.jpg"
},
{
"x": "1200",
"y": "0",
"url": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/-t2HQx-9j2WXwqvWzPVN7Kw0G3I=/1200x0/smart/filters:strip_exif()/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/TL_2198686_9e0a8a.jpg"
},
{
"x": "1600",
"y": "0",
"url": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/fT5IePBF82yNvI1f076cN8WYM5w=/1600x0/smart/filters:strip_exif()/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/TL_2198686_9e0a8a.jpg"
}
],
"url_thumbnail": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/BhC5A-ErUP01zCUpT3ilAeELZRc=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif()/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/TL_2198686_9e0a8a.jpg",
"url_medium": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/JddYhv1XBHl8swknKV0wv3miRvY=/450x0/smart/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/TL_2198686_9e0a8a.jpg",
"url_large": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/kgALpM9wysE5at3iAD7oRfLLNKE=/800x0/smart/filters:strip_exif()/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/TL_2198686_9e0a8a.jpg",
"url_xl": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/-t2HQx-9j2WXwqvWzPVN7Kw0G3I=/1200x0/smart/filters:strip_exif()/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/TL_2198686_9e0a8a.jpg",
"url_xxl": "https://dmcdn.whitebeard.net/i/fT5IePBF82yNvI1f076cN8WYM5w=/1600x0/smart/filters:strip_exif()/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/TL_2198686_9e0a8a.jpg",
"type": "image"
}
],
"summary": "Tatjana Smith, Erin Gallagher and Pieter Coetzé all took gold in their 50m disciplines on Monday evening as the SA Swimming Championships got under way.",
"template_type": null,
"dm_custom_section_label": null,
"elements": [],
"seo": {
"search_title": "Erin Gallagher breaks national record as big names make a splash at SA Swimming Championships",
"search_description": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Erin Gallagher broke her national record in the 50m butterfly event on Monday evening at the South African Swimming Championships with a time of 25.59 seconds — edging ",
"social_title": "Erin Gallagher breaks national record as big names make a splash at SA Swimming Championships",
"social_description": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Erin Gallagher broke her national record in the 50m butterfly event on Monday evening at the South African Swimming Championships with a time of 25.59 seconds — edging ",
"social_image": ""
},
"cached": true,
"access_allowed": true
} 
Tatjana Smith on her way to gold in the women’s 50m breaststroke on day one of the SA National Aquatic Championships in Gqeberha. (Photo: Anton Geyser / Gallo Images)
Pieter Coetzé in action during the men’s 50m backstroke one day one of the SA National Aquatic Championships at Newton Park Swimming Pool in Gqeberha on 8 April 2024. (Photo: Anton Geyser / Gallo Images)