SA swimmers Smith, Corbett and Coetze coast into Olympic semifinals

Swimmers led the charge for Team South Africa in the morning session at the Olympic Games in Paris on Wednesday, with all three participants coasting through the first-round heats.

Tatjana Smith, who won the 100m breaststroke final on Monday, stuck up her hand as the firm favourite to retain her Olympic title in her favoured 200m breaststroke event.

Smith was the fastest swimmer in the opening round over four lengths of the pool, clocking 2:21.57, well ahead of her opponents. Tes Schouten of the Netherlands was next quickest in 2:23.08.

Kaylene Corbett, who reached the 200m breaststroke final at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, was sixth fastest in the heats in 2:23.85.

And Pieter Coetze, who was fifth in the 100m backstroke final on Monday, shone again in the 200m backstroke heats. He was third fastest, touching the wall in 1:56.92.

Smith, Corbett and Coetze were all set to turn out in the semifinals of their events on Wednesday night, in an attempt to book their places in this evening’s finals.

Other results

Meanwhile, the men’s rowing pair of John Smith and Christopher Baxter finished fourth in their semifinal on Wednesday in 6:40.35, missing out on a spot in the A final by a little over four seconds.

While they were out of medal contention, they booked their place in the B final to be held on Thursday.

In the women’s single sculls event, Paige Badenhorst won her C/D semifinal race in 7:55.91, progressing to the C final taking place on Saturday.

Earlier on day five of the Games, former Olympic medallist Henri Schoeman finished 20th in the men’s triathlon in 1:40:48, after the race was postponed by a day due to poor water quality in the Seine river. His compatriot, Jamie Riddle, ended 25th in 1:42:08.

In the women’s triathlon race, Vicky van der Merwe was 46th in 1:59.94.

The SA women’s hockey team were handed their third straight defeat of the group stages, going down 2-1 against Great Britain.

Looking ahead

The national men’s hockey side are aiming to secure their first victory of the Olympic tournament when they square off against Spain on Wednesday night.

Wian Roux will also compete on Wednesday evening in the 1/32 elimination round of men’s archery, and surfer Sarah Baum is hoping to turn out in the third round of women’s surfing, provided weather conditions in Tahiti are suitable for the competition to go ahead.