Matthew Sates scuppered the oldest men’s African short-course record as he powered to victory in the 400m freestyle on the opening day of the first World Cup gala in Berlin on Friday evening.
He surged in the second half of the race to win in 3 min 36.30 sec ahead of Kieran Smith of the US in 3:37.27 and Lithuania’s Danas Rapsys (3:40.36).
Sates dipped under the 3:36.75 mark set in 2008 by distance star Oussama Mellouli of Tunisia, a two-time Olympic champion, as well as the 3:37.91 SA record posted by Myles Brown in 2013.
Sates, looking to defend the best overall male swimmer title he won after the 2021 series, clocked a 51.62 personal best in the 100m individual medley later in the evening, though he had to settle for second behind Italy’s Thomas Ceccon in 51.52.
Chad le Clos won the 100m butterfly after leading from start to finish, clocking 48.58 to comfortably beat Noe Ponti of Switzerland in 49.38.
“Tonight was about getting back on top,” said Le Clos, who finished out of the medals in this event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and the Tokyo Olympics last year. “I’ve been taking a lot of losses lately … this is Chad le Clos 2.0.”
The gala continues on Saturday.
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