Report by Nick van der Leek
The Olympic Champions went into the 400m Freestyle Leader as the favorites, and they’d talked up a confident win. After 4 swimmers and 400m, half a second was what separated South Africa from Australia, with Ryk Neethling digging deep in the final few metres, to hold his stroke, and hold off the challenging Australians, to take Commonwealth gold.
The fastest man in the world, South Africa’s Roland Schoeman,
who television commentators refered to as ‘Showman’, dived in and immediately leapt ahead of the other swimmers. Schoeman’s was the fastest 100m split of the race, setting the South Africans up for the win. Even so, it was a tight race, with the Australians and Canadians inching closer through Lyndon Ferns’ 2nd leg, and closing the gap slightly on the big newcomer, Johannes Zandberg. It was left to Ryk Neethling to finish it off, and he managed to hold off a last minute challenge – bringing the team home well outside their world record time, but setting a Commonwealth record of 3:14.97. Australia came in with 3:15:54, edging out Canada’s 3:15.74.
After the medal ceremony the top three teams strolled around the pool, highfiving with the Australian crowd and posing for photos.
In an earlier race Ryk Neethling’s sister, Jean-Marie Neethling, managed a respectable 6th place. The 15 year old finished her 200m Individual Medley in 2.17.64, less than 5 seconds slower than the local youngster, 18 year old Stephanie Rice, who finished in 2:12.90. Both these girls have a bright future in the pool.
Zandberg posted the 2nd best qualifying time for the backstroke 50m final.
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