By Sam Blacker on SwimSwam
2025 World Championships
- July 27 – August 3, 2025 (pool swimming)
- Singapore, Singapore
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- LCM (50m)
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South Africa continued their strong meet in the final prelims session in Singapore, clipping their own African Record in the women’s 4×100 medley relay to finish 9th, just missing qualifying for the final. They were 0.11 seconds behind the NAB team, as they just ran out of room at the end after hunting them down through the second half of the race.
Three of the members of the previous relay-setting team were in the quartet that swam this morning, although Rebecca Meder took on the breaststroke leg this time to allow Olivia Nel to take over backstroke duties.
That turned into a piece of individual success for Nel, who had a stunning World University Games just two weeks ago, as she broke the South African Record in 1:00.33. She broke Karin Prinsloo‘s mark from the 2022 Commonwealth Games by 0.45 seconds.
The relay this year had much faster legs on backstroke and fly, which made up for a slower breaststroke split. Lara van Niekerk was 1:05.56 three years ago in the previous record compared to Meder’s 1:07. 63, but Erin Gallagher and Nel had enough of a cushion between them, with Gallagher 1.49 seconds faster on the fly leg than she was in Birmingham.
| Old record – 2022 Commonwealth Games | New Record – 2025 World Championships | |
| Backstroke | Rebecca Meder – 1:01.39 | Olivia Nel – 1:00.33 |
| Breaststroke | Lara van Niekerk – 1:05.56 | Rebecca Meder – 1:07.63 |
| Butterfly | Erin Gallagher – 58.80 | Erin Gallagher – 57.31 |
| Freestyle | Aimee Canny – 53.80 | Aimee Canny – 54.20 |
| 3:59.63 | 3:59.47 |
Both Gallagher and Meder are at least semi-finalists here in Singapore, Meder in the 200 IM and Gallagher in the 50 and 100 fly. The latter made it through to the final in the 50 fly, setting a South African record of 25.39 to come within a hundredth of Farida Osman‘s African Record before finishing 8th in the final.
Thanks to Pieter Coetze in the men’s backstroke events and Kaylene Corbett in the women’s 200 breast, South Africa has already won three medals through the seven days so far. Coetze goes again tonight in the 50 backstroke where he is the 3rd seed, and has set African records at all three distances already.
That makes it a total of five African Records set by South Africa’s swimmers, and their best medal return since 2019.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: South Africa Set New African Record Of 3:59.47 In Women’s 4×100 Medley Relay
