MTHULISI SIBANDA
JOHANNESBURG – THE South African swimming team has cemented its place as Africa’s top swimming nation by being the clear winners of the 12th African Swimming Championships.

The team amassed a total of 61 medals in the tournament held in Bloemfontein the Free State Province.

This ten more than the 2012 edition of the competition which took place in Nairobi, Kenya.

On the final day of the event, Michelle Weber collected South Africa’s final gold medal in the women’s 5km Open Water race.

It was a hard fought swim at the Maselspoort Dam in Bloemfontein with Weber coming out on top in a time of 1:12:13.26, while teammate Carmen le Roux walked away with the bronze in 1:12:16.37.

Algeria’s Souad Nefissa Cherouati claimed the silver medal in 1:12:13.62.

In the men’s 5km Open Water race the battle was between Egypt’s Youssef Hassem, Marwan Elamrawy and Daniel Marais.

In the end, it was Hassem’s final stride which won him the gold in 1:00:09.36, ahead of Elamrawy in 1:00:20.34 and Marais claiming the bronze for SA in 1:00:22.11.

The day also saw the 1km and 400m races as well as Swimming SA’s Rural Splash programme, completing the final day of the competition.

Final Medal rankings:
Country Gold Silver Bronze Total
South Africa 33 16 12 61
Algeria 7 7 6 20
Egypt 3 20 18 41
Seychelles 1 1 2 4
Morocco 0 0 3 3
Senegal 0 0 1 1
– Guardian