Tuks’s Erin Gallagher won South Africa’s second medal at the World Student Games in Chengdu, China, with a second-place finish in the women’s 50m-butterfly.
Gallagher has twice improved the South African record. In the heats, she won swimming 25.71s. She was even faster in the final swimming 25.66s. China’s Yufei Zhang won in a time of 25.20s. Italy’s Viola di Scotto won bronze in swimming 26.01s.
Gallagher’s heroics prove there is no substitute for hard work and dedication. She makes no secret that what motivates her is constantly pushing herself to be faster today than she was yesterday. It is why she swims for hours most days.
This year she focussed on becoming stronger in the water and minor technical aspects to improve her kick.”
Gallagher is making a habit of medalling in the 50m-butterfly. Last year during the Birmingham Commonwealth, she also won silver.
Kaylene Corbett (Tuks), another Commonwealth Games medallist, assured that she will contest tomorrow’s 100m-breaststroke final by winning her heat in 1:08.77. It was the second fastest in the semi-finals.
The Tuks swimmer could have had a better start, but she made up for it with a good stroke technique.
Hannah Pearse (Tuks) finished sixth in the 200m-backstroke final. Her time was 2:12.37. China’s Liu Yaxin won in 2:08.18.
The still elated Christiaan de Klerk (Tuks), who won South Africa’s first medal at the World Student Games with his second-place finish in the men’s compound archery competition, ascribed his breakthrough to doing the small things right.
“I am a firm believer in marginal gains. That is why I have a specific goal every time I train. I will keep on it until I have mastered what I have set out to do. The positive spinoff of doing this is that because I am so focussed all the time during training, it enables me to pick other small things in my technique that I need to improve.
“Something else I have worked on is having a positive mindset. To have any chance of winning, you have to believe in your abilities. I have no regrets as to how my competition played out. I did the best I could. That was the goal. My opponent was better on the day.”
Tuks’s Marli Viljoen qualified for tomorrow’s 400-metre final by winning her semi-final heat in a time of 52.98s. Her’s was the fastest in the semi-finals. Angelique Strydom (53.38s) will also contest the final.
Charne Swart (Tuks) assured she is through to tomorrow’s 800m final by running a time of 2:07.37.
South Africa’s Commonwealth Games champion, Michaela Whitebooi, finished fifth in the women’s judo under-48kg category. She did well to win two fights. In doing so, she improved her international ranking to 40th.
Donné Breytenbach also ended up finishing fifth. She competed in the under-57kg category.