South African Zane Waddell pulled off a massive upset at the Fina World Championships on the final day of competition in Gwangju, claiming gold in the 50m backstroke.
The 21-year-old stopped the clock after 24.43 seconds to finish ahead of the Russian duo of Evgeny Rilov and current world record holder Kliment Kolesnikov.
It’s the first time in 12 years that a South African won the event. Gerhard Znadberg was the last local swimmer to top the podium in Melbourne in 2007
Team South Africa moved up to joint 10th, alongside Sweden on the medal table.
Waddell joined Chad le Clos and Tatjana Schoenmaker as the only other South African swimmers to have won a medal at the World Champs.
Le Clos claimed bronze in the 100m butterfly to add to his bronze in the 200m fly.
Schoenmaker made history earlier in the week, becoming the first South African female swimmer to a medal at the World Champs.
The 22-year-old winning silver in the 200m breaststroke to take South Africa’s medal tally to four.
You might also like… Helen Zille joins Institute of Race Relations
Former Western Cape Premier Helen Zille may have left politics but she had not simply taken to a life of retirement.
The veteran former politician joined the South African Institute of Race Relations as a senior fellow.
Zille will work as a writer and analyst for the organisation.
Zille urged the public to support the institute. continue reading…
Source – EWN
