Lara van Niekerk

Lara van Niekerk (born 13 May 2003) is a South African competitive swimmer. She is the current African, South African, and Commonwealth record holder in the long course 50-metre breaststroke and the African and South African record holder in the short course 50-metre breaststroke. At the 2018 African Swimming Championships, she won gold medals in the 50-metre breaststroke, 100-metre breaststroke, 200-metre breaststroke, and the 4×100-metre medley relay.

Lara van Niekerk
Personal information
National team South Africa
Born (2003-05-13) 13 May 2003[1]
South Africa
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesBreaststroke
Medal record
Women's swimming
Representing  South Africa
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
African Championships 4 0 0
Total 4 0 0
African Championships
2018 Algiers 50 m breaststroke
2018 Algiers 100 m breaststroke
2018 Algiers 200 m breaststroke
2018 Algiers 4×100 m medley
African Junior Championships
2017 Cairo 50 m breaststroke
2017 Cairo 100 m breaststroke
2017 Cairo 4×100 m medley
2017 Cairo 4×100 m mixed medley
2017 Cairo 200 m breaststroke

Background

Van Niekerk was born 13 May 2003 in South Africa.[1]

Career

2017 African Junior Championships

At the 2017 African Junior Swimming Championships in Cairo, Egypt in March, Van Niekerk won a total of five medals including gold medals in the 100-metre breaststroke, 4×100-metre mixed medley relay, 50-metre breaststroke, 4×100-metre medley relay, and a silver medal in the 200-metre breaststroke.[1]

2018 African Championships
2018 African Championships
200 m breaststroke 2:35.25
50 m breaststroke 31.99 (CR)
100 m breaststroke 1:11.13
4×100 m medley 4:12.83

In 2018, at the year's African Swimming Championships in Algiers, Algeria, Van Niekerk won a gold medal in each of the four events she competed.[2] She won her first gold medal in the 200-metre breaststroke with a time of 2:35.25.[2][3] For her second gold medal, she won the 50-metre breaststroke with a new Championships record time of 31.99 seconds, which broke the former record of 32.06 seconds set by Tilka Paljk of Zambia in the prelims heats.[2][4] In the 100-metre breaststroke, she won her third gold medal of the Championships, finishing over eight-tenths of a second ahead of the silver medalist in the event with a time of 1:11.13.[2][5] For her fourth and final event of the Championships, she concluded with another gold medal, this time helping win the 4×100-metre medley relay in 4:12.83, splitting a 1:10.40 for the breaststroke leg of the relay.[2][6]

2019 World Junior Championships

The following year, Van Niekerk competed in four events at the 2019 World Junior Swimming Championships in Budapest, Hungary, placing fourth in the 50-metre breaststroke with a 31.12, 20th in the 100-metre breaststroke with a 1:10.95, 30th in the 200-metre breaststroke with a 2:36.91, and tenth in 4:15.71 as part of the 4×100-metre medley relay with a split of 1:11.42 for the breaststroke leg of the relay.[7]

2021

At the 2021 South Africa National Short Course Championships in Pietermaritzburg in September, Van Niekerk set two new African and South African records in the short course 50-metre breaststroke, first setting a mark of 30.06 seconds in the prelims heats, then lowering her records to a time of 29.85 seconds in the final.[8][9] Her swim made her the first South African woman to swim the race in less than 30 seconds.[8][10] Approximately two months later, she set new African, South African, and Commonwealth records in the long course 50-metre breaststroke with a time of 29.88 seconds at the 2021 Northern Tigers Swimming Championships in Pretoria.[10][11] With her time of 29.88 seconds, she also became the first South African woman to finish the event faster than 30 seconds and the seventh-fastest female swimmer in the event in history.[10][12]

2022

Van Niekerk swam faster than 1:07.00 in the long course 100-metre breaststroke twice at the 2022 Grand Prix international meet number two in Durban in February, first swimming a personal best time of 1:06.52 in the preliminary heats, then a 1:06.74 in the final.[13][14]

For the 2022 South Africa National Swimming Championships in Gqeberha in April, in part a selection meet to determine the 2022 World Aquatics Championships and 2022 Commonwealth Games South Africa team members, Van Niekerk entered to compete in the 50-metre breaststroke, 50-metre freestyle, 50-metre butterfly, and 100-metre breaststroke.[15] On the first day of competition, she set new African, South African, and Commonwealth records in the 50-metre breaststroke, lowering her former mark of 29.88 seconds from 2021 to 29.72 seconds in the prelims heats of the event.[16][17][18][19] In the final, she placed first in 30.60 seconds, finishing 0.27 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Tatjana Schoenmaker and attaining a qualifying time for both the World Championships and the Commonwealth Games.[20][21][22] In the prelims heats of the 50-metre freestyle on day two, she swam a 27.53 in prelims heat six and did not advance to the final in the evening.[23] For the 50-metre butterfly prelims heats on day three, she placed sixth in prelims heat one with a time of 28.57 seconds, not making the top eight across all prelims heats and thus not qualifying for the evening final.[24] On the fourth day, in the prelims heats of the 100-metre breaststroke, she swam a personal best time of 1:06.08 and qualified for the evening final, where she went on to swim a personal best time of 1:05.67 to win the gold medal and achieve a qualifying time for the World Championships and Commonwealth Games.[25][26][27]

International championships
Meet 50 breaststroke 100 breaststroke 200 breaststroke 4×100 medley relay 4×100 mixed medley relay
AJC 2017
AC 2018
WJC 20194th20th30th10th

Personal best times

Long course metres (50 m pool)
Event Time Meet Location Date Notes Ref
50 m breaststroke 29.72 h 2022 SA National Swimming Championships Gqeberha 6 April 2022 AF, NR, CR [16]
100 m breaststroke 1:05.67 2022 SA National Swimming Championships Gqeberha 9 April 2022 [25]
200 m breaststroke 2:31.30 2021 South Africa Grand Prix No. 4 Durban 29 May 2021 [1]

Legend: AF – African record; NR – South African record; CR – Commonwealth record

Short course metres (25 m pool)
Event Time Meet Location Date Notes Ref
50 m breaststroke 29.85 2021 South Africa National Short Course Championships Pietermaritzburg 16 September 2021 AF, NR [8][9]
100 m breaststroke 1:05.00 2021 South Africa National Short Course Championships Pietermaritzburg 19 September 2021 [1]
200 m breaststroke 2:23.65 2021 South Africa National Short Course Championships Pietermaritzburg 17 September 2021 [1]

Legend: AF – African record; NR – South African record

Continental and national records

Long course metres (50 m pool)
No. Event Time Meet Location Date Type Status Notes Ref
1 50 m breaststroke 29.88 2021 Northern Tigers Swimming Championships Pretoria 20 December 2021 AF, NR Former Former CR [10][11]
2 50 m breaststroke (2) 29.72 h 2022 SA National Swimming Championships Gqeberha 6 April 2022 AF, NR Current CR [16][17][18][19]
Legend: AF – African record; CR – Commonwealth record; NR – South African record;
Records not set in finals: h – heat; sf – semifinal; r – relay 1st leg; rh – relay heat 1st leg; b – B final; † – en route to final mark; tt – time trial

Short course metres (25 m pool)
No. Event Time Meet Location Date Type Status Ref
1 50 m breaststroke 30.06 h 2021 South Africa National Short Course Championships Pietermaritzburg 16 September 2021 AF, NR Former [9]
2 50 m breaststroke (2) 29.85 2021 South Africa National Short Course Championships Pietermaritzburg 16 September 2021 AF, NR Current [8][9]
Legend: AF – African record; NR – South African record;
Records not set in finals: h – heat; sf – semifinal; r – relay 1st leg; rh – relay heat 1st leg; b – B final; † – en route to final mark; tt – time trial

See also

References
  1. "Lara Van Niekerk: Results". FINA. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  2. "13th CANA Swimming Championships - Algiers (Algeria) 2018: Full Set of Results" (in French). Swimming South Africa. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  3. D'Addona, Dan (11 September 2018). "Egypt's Farida Osman Sets CANA Africa Swimming Record in 50 Fly; South Africa Wins 8 Medals". Swimming World. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  4. D'Addona, Dan (12 September 2018). "Lara van Niekerk Breaks CANA Africa Swimming and Open Water Championship Record". Swimming World. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  5. D'Addona, Dan (13 September 2018). "Farida Osman Wins; Egypt, South Africa Lean CANA Africa Championships". Swimming World. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  6. Ross, Andy (15 September 2018). "Egypt Extends Lead On South Africa At the Africa Swimming and Open Water Championships". Swimming World. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  7. FINA (25 August 2019). "7th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships 2019 Budapest (HUN): Results Book". Omega Timing. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  8. Race, Retta (16 September 2021). "Van Niekerk Becomes First South African Woman Under 30 Seconds In SCM 50 Breast". SwimSwam. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  9. "Lara van Niekerk in fine form as records tumble in Pietermaritzburg". News24. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  10. Abrahams, Celine (20 December 2021). "Lara van Niekerk New 50m Breaststroke African Record Holder". gsport.co.za. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  11. Race, Retta (20 September 2021). "Van Niekerk Hits New South African LCM 50 Breast Record In Pretoria". SwimSwam. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  12. Isaacson, David (9 January 2022). "Lara van Niekerk looking to make her mark in the pool". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  13. Hy-Tek (20 February 2022). "2022 Grand Prix 2 Invitational Meet Durban: Results". Swimming South Africa. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  14. Race, Retta (19 February 2022). "Le Clos Back To Racing In Durban After Bronchitis Hospital Stay". SwimSwam. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  15. "2022 SA National Aquatic Championships - Swimming: Psych Sheet". Swimming South Africa. 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  16. Hamann, Michael (6 April 2022). "South African Champs Day 1 Prelims: Van Niekerk Blasts World-Leading 50 Breast". SwimSwam. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  17. "Lara van Niekerk smashes records at swimming championships". Independent Online. 7 April 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  18. Chetty, Amir (7 April 2022). "Van Niekerk shines on opening day of national swimming champs". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  19. "Van Niekerk Shines On Opening Day Of National Swimming Championships". Swimming South Africa. 7 April 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  20. SwimSA TV (5 April 2022). "SA National Swimming Championships 2022". YouTube. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  21. Race, Retta (6 April 2022). "Van Niekerk, Canny, Coetze Qualify For Budapest World Championships". SwimSwam. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  22. "Coetzé and Schoenmaker qualifies for Birmingham Commonwealth Games". SuperSport. 7 April 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  23. SwimSA TV (7 April 2022). "SA National Swimming Championships 2022 Day 2". YouTube. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  24. SwimSA TV (8 April 2022). "National Aquatics Championships 2022 Day 3". YouTube. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  25. SwimSA TV (9 April 2022). "National Aquatics Championships 2022 Day 4". YouTube. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  26. Isaacson, David (9 April 2022). "Tatjana Schoenmaker downed by Lara van Niekerk in the 100m breaststroke". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  27. Jonckheere, Karien (9 April 2022). "18-year-old matric pupil stuns Olympic superstar Tatjana Schoenmaker at SA swim champs". News24. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
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