Team South Africa returned to the country with six medals after concluding a successful four-day campaign at the Strongest Athletes Swimming Cup in Minsk, Belarus over the weekend. The team of four also produced several personal bests and strong placements across multiple events at the short-course (25m) meet.
Scarlett le Roux contributed two medals to the impressive haul after securing silver in the 800m freestyle in a new personal best time of 8 minutes 54.3 seconds. The Benoni swimmer also swam a career-best time of 4:18.33 in the 400m freestyle to claim the bronze. Le Roux just missed out on a third medal in the 200m freestyle, finishing fourth in another PB of 2:02.33.
“The Belarusian Swimming Cup was my first time racing against Europeans and competing in that kind of environment, and it was honestly incredible,” said an enthusiastic Le Roux afterwards.
“The meet was so beautifully organised, the atmosphere was electric, and the facility itself was breathtaking. Our team was small, but unbelievably talented.”
Le Roux added that even she was pleasantly surprised by her medal-winning performances, paying tribute to her three teammates.
“My results were nothing like what I expected – in the best way. The medals were a complete surprise, and I’m genuinely proud of myself. I learned so much from my teammates, who have so much more experience than I do, and I truly think their guidance played a huge role in how I performed,” added the 17-year-old.
One of those teammates was Matthew Caldwell who also emerged as another of the standout performers, securing three bronze medals – in the 400m freestyle (3:46.3), 800m freestyle (7:54.97) and 1500m freestyle, dipping under the 15-minute mark with a PB of 14:59.16. Caldwell also advanced to the final of the 200m individual medley, where he finished fifth and the 100m freestyle, finishing eighth in 49.90 seconds.
“I’m very happy with all the results,” he said afterwards, explaining he headed into the meet untapered. “I was very proud of myself for swimming such good times, especially with the condition my body was in… I’m excited to see what more my body can do.”
Sprint specialist Jessica Thompson captured the country’s other bronze medal in the 50m freestyle, stopping the clock at 24.75 seconds. The 18-year-old Joburg swimmer also featured prominently in the finals of two additional events, placing fourth in both the 50m butterfly (26.0) and 50m backstroke (26.99).
“Our team did really well… Jarden, Matt and Scarlett got huge PBs in their races, so it was so incredible seeing how well they were doing,” said Thompson, giving special praise to Le Roux at her first senior international meet.
“Seeing her step up and get on the podium twice was really so incredible and Matt also getting on the podium three times, it was really awesome.”
In the butterfly events, national short course champion Jarden Eaton delivered a string of personal bests. He finished just off the 200m butterfly podium, after touching fourth in 1 minute 58.1 seconds while also setting new PBs of 52.29 in the 100m butterfly and 23.82 seconds in the 50m butterfly.
Team SA’s campaign was rounded off by a strong relay showing, with the 4x50m mixed freestyle team finishing a competitive fifth in a tightly contested final.
Top image: L to R Coach Doug Erasmus, Eaton, Caldwell, Le Roux and Thompson
