Double Commonwealth Games champion Lara van Niekerk clocked her fastest 50m breaststroke in nearly three years as she continued her comeback at the national short-course championships in Pietermaritzburg last night.
The 22-year-old went into the wall in second place, but after the turn she stamped her authority on the race and won in 30.04sec.
That is the fastest she’s been since setting her 29.09 African record while winning silver at the 2022 world short-course championships. “I’m very happy. I really wanted to go 29, even if it was 29.99, just to know that I can break that 30 barrier.”
She dipped under 30 on eight occasions between September 2021 and December 2022, but last night was her ninth fastest effort. “It’s very good for where I am in the season now. I can just take this as a positive,” said Van Niekerk, who picked up a knee niggle early last week.
“If it wasn’t for the knee hiccough at the beginning of last week, I’d have gone faster in both my 100m breaststroke and 50m breaststroke.”
Van Niekerk was the golden girl of South African swimming in 2022, when she first stunned Tatjana Smith — the Olympic 100m breaststroke silver medallist at the time — at the national championships.
She out-duelled her again at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham later that year, clocking a time that would have earned her second place in Paris last year.
But a series of illnesses threw her off her stride and then, in another blow, an administrative blunder cost her a spot on the 2024 Games team despite achieving qualifying times. “I think there was a point last year where, after not going to the Olympics, even though I qualified, it really challenged me mentally, a lot. I didn’t even really enjoy swimming any more.”
But Van Niekerk has rediscovered her mojo.
“I just got back to why I started swimming in the beginning, and I’m really enjoying it again. I love going to training every day. I’m enjoying racing again. There was a stage last year where I was scared of racing.”
She found inspiration after realising her impact on other swimmers.
“There’s still youngsters reaching out to me, asking me questions, and that’s what’s keeping me going because I was once one of those little kids, and I know how it feels to look up to someone,” said Van Niekerk, who would like to defend her two titles at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow next year.
“I’ve done it once, I can do it again.”
In other action last night, Johannesburg matric pupil Jessica Thompson won two more medals to take her tally to five so far.
She clocked a 24.19sec personal best to down Caitlin de Lange in the 50m freestyle. “I’m so happy with this time, it’s a 0.6 PB [personal best], so I really didn’t expect to get that low,” said Thompson, who later took the 100m backstroke in 58.34, more than a second in front of second-placed Milla Drakopoulos.
She too is targeting the Commonwealth Games, after which she plans to head to the University of Virginia.
The gala ends today.
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