African Swimming Championships-Medals and record for Shrone Austin |16 September 2006

Until the Senior African Swimming Championship ends tomorrow, Austin has won three medals – a silver and two bronze.

Her silver medal-winning performance was in the 800m freestyle with a clocking of 9 minutes 04.09 seconds (9:04.09), just outside her new record of 9:03.16 she set in Rio de Janeiro.

Tunisian Maroua Mathlouthi won the 800m freestyle gold by stopping the clock in 8:57.69 for the only sub-nine-minute performance of the event. South African Nathalie Du Toit picked up the bronze with 9:12.21.

In the 200m freestyle, former Sportslady of the Year Austin snared the bronze medal in a new national record time of 2:07.60. Her previous best stood at 2:09.06.

South African Leone Vorster demolished the field with a time of 2:01.92 for the gold medal and Tunisian Maroua Mathlouthi placed second with 2:06.81.

Austin’s other bronze medal came in the 400m Individual Medley with a time of 5:09.15, a little over five seconds outside her national record of 5:04.11.

Tunisia’s Maroua Mathlouthi triumphed in the women’s 400 IM, crushing the competition with a clocking of 4:55.58 for the African title. Algerian Souad Nafisa Cherouati picked up the silver in 5:03.50.

Although Steven Mangroo, Seychelles’ other representative in Dakar, has not won any medal or broke any Seychelles record, he has improved his personal best in the 400m freestyle with 4:19.02 (his previous best being 4:20.47), thus edging closer to Jean-Paul Adam’s Seychelles record of 4:17.41.

He also swam the 200m freestyle and 800m freestyle final but his times were not known by the time of going to press.

Algeria’s Nabil Kebbab rolled through the field with a clocking of 1:52.05 to claim the men’s 200 freestyle gold medal. He was placed ahead of Kenyan Jason Dunford, who touched home in 1:53.69 for silver and South African John Ellis finished third for bronze with 1:54.65.

Egypt’s Mohamed Magdy claimed the 800m freestyle title with a performance of 8:21.12. Tunisia swept the next two spots on the podium with Mohamed Mettigi taking the silver in 8:22.74 and Ahmed Mathlouthi earning the bronze in 8:24.00.

G. G.