Swimming in Algeria

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Men’s 100 Breaststroke

South Africa went back-to-back with a victory in the men’s 100 breast as Thabang Moeketsane won the title by nearly four tenths of a second. Moeketsane hit the wall with a 1:03.39 to down Algerian Sofiane Daid’s silver-winning time of 1:03.78. Meanwhile, Senegal’s Malick Fall captured bronze with a 1:04.18 in front of a home crowd.

While Moeketsane trailed Fall at the halfway mark 29.43 to 29.18, the South African brought it home in 33.96 to win the race.

Women’s 400 IM

Tunisia’s Maroua Mathlouthi kept the 400-meter distance in the family with a triumph in the women’s 400 IM to match Ahmed’s conquest in the 400 free for the men. Maroua crushed the competition with a 4:55.58 for the African title in the event.

Additionally, Algerian Souad Nafisa Cherouati picked up silver in 5:03.50, while Seychelles’ Shrone Austin rounded out the podium with a 5:09.15.

Women’s 800 Freestyle Relay

South Africa snared the first relay title of the meet with an 8:36.20 in the women’s 800-meter freestyle as the quartet of Vorster, Elzanne Werth, Louise Smyth and Tamaryn Laubscher laid claim to the crown.

Vorster opened the race with a 2:05.76 leadoff leg, while Werth finished the second quarter of the race with a 2:07.27 to push the South Africans to a six-second advantage. Smyth turned in a 2:12.98 to lose nearly two seconds of that lead before Laubscher held on to the win with a 2:10.19 anchor leg.

Algeria’s team of Kenza Matoub, Fella Bennaceur, Cherouati and Sarah Hadjabderahmane earned silver in 8:40.60, while the Tunisian squad of Chahed, Raoudha Rebai, Mariem Meddem and Maroua Mathlouthi pocketed bronze in 8:45.86.

First day of competition complete at African Swimming Championships

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South African took the medal lead during the second day of competition at the African Swimming Championships held in Dakar, Senegal from Sept. 11-17, Swimming World Magazine reports. The South Africans own 11 medals (7G, 1S, 3B), while Tunisia dropped to second with nine medals (3G, 5S, 1B). Algeria stood in third with six medals (2G, 3S, 1B).

Women’s 50 Butterfly

Elzanne Werth spearheaded a South African top-two sweep in the women’s 50 fly with a time of 28.57 to touch out compatriot Leone Vorster. Vorster wound up with silver in 28.65. Meanwhile, Zimbabwe’s Samantha Richter rounded out the podium with a 29.13.

Men’s 200 Freestyle

Algeria’s Nabil Kebbab rolled through the field with a 1:52.05 to claim the men’s 200 free title at the meet. He placed ahead of Kenyan Jason Dunford, who won the 100 fly on the first day of competition before touching in 1:53.69 for silver in the 200 free. South African John Ellis placed third for bronze with a 1:54.65.

Kebbab trailed Dunford at the halfway mark, 55.07 to 54.93, but came home in 56.98 to secure the title.

Women’s 200 Freestyle

Vorster continued her dominance in the freestyle with her second freestyle gold of the meet. After winning the 100 free on the first day with the only sub 58-second time (57.67), Vorster demolished the field with a 2:01.92 in the 200 free. Tunisian Maroua Mathlouthi placed second with a 2:06.81, while Seychelles’ Shrone Austin took bronze with a 2:07.60.

At the halfway mark, Vorster already owned a nearly three-second lead over her nearest competitor with a 59.92 split, before posting a 1:02-flat back half for the win.

Men’s 400 IM

South African Stuart Rogers pocketed his first medal of the meet with a convincing win in the 400 IM. He recorded a 4:31.48 to place ahead of Tunisia’s Taki M’Rabet’s second-place time of 4:33.54. Meanwhile, Egyptian Mohamed Gad Allah snared third with a 4:34.81.

Rogers had to come from behind in the last 200 meters after trailing M’Rabet at the halfway point, 2:10.14 to 2:08.49. Rogers, however, had a much stronger third leg as he built a second-and-a-half lead at the 300-meter mark with a 3:26.99.

Women’s 200 Breaststroke

South African Tamaryn Laubscher garnered her first individual gold and second gold overall, with a crushing win in the 200 breaststroke. In a wire-to-wire conquest, Laubscher registered a 2:32.64 to defeat Morocco’s Sara El Bekri, who touched in 2:37.97. Algerian Lydia Yefsah concluded the top three with a bronze-winning 2:38.93.

Laubscher built a two-second lead at the halfway point with a 1:12.61 before bringing home the hardware with a 1:20.03 final 100 meters.

Women’s 800 Freestyle

Tunisian Maroua Mathlouthi snagged her fourth medal and second gold of the meet with a win in the 800 freestyle. She stopped the clock in 8:57.69 for the only sub-nine-minute performance of the event. Seychelles’ Austin earned her third medal of the meet with a silver-winning 9:04.09, while South African Natalia Du Toit picked up bronze with a 9:12.21.

Mathlouthi led the race from start to finish as she slowly built a second lead per 100 meters to finish with nearly a seven second win.

Men’s 800 Freestyle Relay

Algeria’s quartet of Mehdi Hamama, Ryad Djendouci, Naoufel Benabid and Kebbab cruised to victory in the men’s 800 freestyle relay with a time of 7:45.32. Meanwhile, the Tunisian team of Mohamed Mettigi, Anouar Bennaceur, M’Rabet and Ahmed Mathlouthi garnered silver with a 7:50.47, while the Egyptian contingent of Mohamed Magdy, Aziz Mazen, Gad Allah and Abdel Rahman A. Bakr placed third in 7:53.19.

Hamama opened with a 1:57.27 leadoff leg for the Algerians, before giving way to Djendouci’s 1:55.91 second leg. Benabid then put together a 1:59.17 third split, before Kebbab brought the gold home in 1:52.97.

Golds for Algeria on second day of championships

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DAKAR, Senegal, September 15 - - DURING the fourth day of competition, South Africa increased its meet-leading medal total to 22 with a total of 13 golds, four silvers and five bronzes. Second place witnessed a change at the African Swimming Championships held in Dakar, Senegal, as Algeria surpassed Tunisia with 15 medals (5G, 5S, 5B), while Tunisia finished the day with 13 medals (3G, 7S, 3B).

Women’s 50 Backstroke

South Africa’s Lehesta Kemp captured her third gold medal of the meet with a 30.96 in the 50 backstroke by finishing ahead of Egypt’s Dina Hegazy, who touched second in 31.22. Meanwhile, Senegal’s Khadija Ciss took bronze with a 31.44.

Men’s 50 Backstroke

The Dunfords of Kenya kept it in the family with a top-two sweep in the 50 back. Jason touched out David by .15 with a 26.83 against David’s 26.98. Additionally, South African Stuart Rogers grabbed third in 27.04.

Women’s 100 Butterfly

South African Elzanne Werth picked up her fourth gold medal of the meet with a dominating victory in the 100 fly. Her 1:02.57 far surpassed the 1:03.41 posted by Algerian Fella Bennaceur, who claimed silver. Tunisia’s Mariem Meddeb rounded out the top three with a 1:04.42.

Werth built a lead of more than half a second at the 50-meter mark with a 29.26, which stood .67 seconds faster than Bennaceur’s 29.93 at the halfway mark.

Men’s 200 Breaststroke

Algeria’s Sofiane Daid crushed the field in the 200 breast with a 2:17.67 to win by nearly two seconds. South African Thabang Moeketsane suffered his first breaststroke defeat of the meet with a second-place time of 2:19.41. Meanwhile, Egypt’s Sherif Madkour snagged bronze in 2:23.73.

Daid proved to have much more in the tank than Moeketsane during the final 50 meters as he actually trailing the South African by .43 seconds at the 150-meter mark (1:42.14 to 1:41.71). Daid, however, dropped the hammer with a 35.53 final 50 compared to Moeketsane’s 37.70 final split.

Women’s 100 Breaststroke

South African Tamaryn Laubscher won her fourth gold medal of the meet with a conquest of the 100 breast. The South African touched first in 1:11.84 to down Algerian Meriem Lamri, who placed second with a 1:12.95. Morocco’s Sara El Bekri closed out the top three with a 1:14.17.

Laubscher pushed out to .42 second lead over El Bekri after the initial half of racing with a 34.06 split against El Bekri’s 34.48. Laubscher, however, came home in 37.78 while Lamri raced by El Bekri for second with a 38.19 split against the El Bekri’s 39.69.

Men’s 400 Freestyle Relay

Algeria’s squad of Nabil Kebbab, Badis Djendouci, Naoufel Benabid and Salim Iles came from behind to defeat the South African team comprised of Shaun Harris, Ryan De Klerk, Stuart Rogers and Fouche Venter. The Algerians touched in 3:28.15, while the South Africans recorded a 3:28.47. Egypt’s contingent of Mohamed Mamdouh, Ahmed Salah, Ahmed Mostafa and Abdel Rahman A. Bakr clocked a third-place 3:31.81.

Initially, Kebbab staked the Algerians to a .52 second advantage with a 50.83 leadoff leg against Harris’ 51.35. Djendouci fell behind De Klerk in the second leg with a 53.99 split against the South African’s 53.36 split. Benabid could not make up the difference in the third leg as the Algerian split a 53.05 when compared to Rogers’ 52.65. Iles, however, tracked down Venter to touch first with a 50.28 anchor leg against Venter’s 51.11.

No results for the women’s 1500 freestyle, scheduled to be contested on the fourth day, were available.

Algeria moves up the medals table at African Swimming Championships

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During the penultimate day of in-pool competition at the African Swimming Championships in Dakar, Senegal, South Africa boosted their meet-leading medal total to 28 (15G, 6S, 7B). Algeria built on their second-place total to 21 (7G, 7S, 7B), while Tunisia remained in third with 17 (4G, 8S, 5B), Swimming World Magazine reports.

Women’s 50 Breaststroke

South African Tamaryn Laubscher corralled her fifth gold medal of the meet with a triumph in the 50 breast. She touched the wall in 33.33 to beat second-place Meriem Lamri of Algeria’s 34.02 clocking. Lamri barely touched out Moroccan Sara El Bekri for third as El Bekri garnered bronze in 34.05.

Men’s 50 Butterfly

Coming off a huge anchor leg in the 400 freestyle relay in which Salim Iles came-from-behind to win gold for his Algerian team, Iles won again with a 24.75 in the 50 fly. Kenyan Jason Dunford placed second overall with a 24.88, while South African Fouche Venter garnered third in 25.17.

Women’s 200 Butterfly

Algerian Sarah Hadjabderahmane picked up gold in the 200 fly with a 2:16.72 that left no doubt as she touched the wall. Her closest competitor proved to be second-place South African Louise Smyth, who touched well behind in 2:19.26. Tunisian Mariem Meddeb placed third in 2:24.06 to round out the podium.

Hadjabderahmane built a nearly two-second lead at the 100-meter mark with a 1:05.85 against Smyth’s 1:07.11.

Men’s 200 IM

Tunisia owned the men’s 200 IM with a top-two sweep as Taki M’Rabet touched out his compatriot Ahmed Mathlouthi by .15 seconds to pocket gold. Overall, M’Rabet clocked a 2:06.84, while Mathlouthi recorded a 2:06.99 for silver. Algerian Mehdi Hamama closed out the top three with a bronze-winning 2:07.14.

After pushing out to a three-second advantage at the 100-meter mark with a 58.95 split, M’Rabet held on for dear life as Mathlouthi stormed back from a 1:01.98 100-meter split to nearly win the event.

Men’s 200 Backstroke

Kenyan David Dunford won a tightly-contested 200 back with a 2:06.48. South African Stuart Rogers placed just behind in 2:06.74, while Algerian Naoufel Benabid snared bronze with a 2:06.93.

In the second straight hard-fought final, Dunford nearly gave up a two-second first-half lead. The Kenyan staked himself to that advantage with a 1:00.94 over the first 100 meters, while Rogers touched at the halfway mark with a 1:02.73.

Men’s 400 Medley Relay

The South Africans broke up the Algerian relay party by denying the Algerians a relay sweep in the 400 medley relay. The South African contingent of Stuart Rogers, Thabang Moeketsane, Fouche Venter and Shaun Harris raced to victory in 3:46.52. Meanwhile, the Algerian team of Naoufel Benabid, Sofiane Daid, Nabil Kebbab and Salim Iles snagged silver in 3:49.12, while the Egyptian quartet of Mohamed Tarek Salah, Ayman Khatab, Ahmed Salah and Abdel Rahman A. Bakr nabbed bronze in 3:53.34.

Rogers opened the triumphant race for the South Africans with a 58.95 in the backstroke leg, before Moeketsane recorded a 1:02.47 in the breaststroke leg. Venter then registered a 54.72 split in the butterfly leg, before Harris brought it home with a 50.38 freestyle leg.

The men’s 1500 freestyle is scheduled, but results have not yet been posted.

Algerian swimmers pick up more medals

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South African completed its domination in the pool at the African Swimming Championships held in Dakar, Senegal on Saturday, Swimming World Magazine reports.

The South African contingent finished with 37 medals (19G, 10S, 8B) to easily handle the rest of the continent’s teams. Algeria placed second with 25 medals (8G, 9S, 8B), while Tunisia took third with 20 medals (5G, 9S, 6B). The meet will conclude tomorrow with 5k open water swimming in Dakar-Goree.

Women’s 400 Freestyle

South Africa swept the top-two spots in the women’s 400 free as Leone Vorster and Natalie Du Toit placed one-two in the event. Vorster crushed the competition with a 4:17.44, while Du Toit claimed silver with a 4:24.83. Meanwhile, Seychelles’ Shrone Austin picked up bronze in 4:26.21.

By the midway mark, Vorster had already built a two-second lead with a 2:07.94 split and never looked back en route to the victory.

Men’s 50 Freestyle

The sprint champion of the meet so far with an anchor leg win in the 400 free relay and in the 50 fly, Algerian Salim Iles snared another individual gold with a 22.65 in the 50 free. He finished ahead of second-place South African Shaun Harris (22.96) and third-place Kenyan Jason Dunford (23.31).

Women’s 50 Freestyle

Tunisian Sarra Chahed hit the wall first in the women’s sprint freestyle with a 27.13 to defeat second-place South African Marielle Rogers (27.44) and third-place Samantha Richter (27.56) from Zimbabwe.

Men’s 200 Butterfly

Egypt went one-three in the 200 fly as Ahmed Salah earned the title and Mostafa Atef pocketed bronze. Salah posted the only sub-2:03 time of finals with a 2:02.95, while Atef took third in 2:05.60. Algerian Sofiane Daid split the difference with a silver-winning 2:03.64.

Salah pushed his advantage to more than a second at the halfway mark with a 58.06 split at the 100-meter mark.

Women’s 200 IM

The meet’s gold medal queen, South African Tamaryn Laubscher, snagged her sixth pinnacle medal of the meet with a win in the 200 IM. In the end, Laubscher stopped the clock in 2:21.76 to claim victory, while Tunisian Maroua Mathlouthi earned silver in 2:22.85. Laubscher’s compatriot Tanya Bouffe rounded out the podium with a third-place 2:23.91.

Laubscher never trailed as she routinely built her lead up to three seconds heading into the freestyle stroke, and then held off a hard-charging Mathlouthi for her sixth gold of the meet.

Men’s 100 Backstroke

Kenyan David Dunford proved triumphant in the 100 back with a time of 58.17. That effort eclipsed the second-place 58.98 recorded by South African Stuart Rogers and the third-place 59.26 posted by Algerian Naoufel Benabid.

Dunford also led at the 50-meter mark with a 28.43 for the only sub-29-second first 50 of the race.

Women’s 400 Medley Relay

South Africa swept the women’s relays with a conquest of the 400 medley. The quartet of Lehesta Kemp, Tamaryn Laubscher, Elzanne Werth and Leone Vorster brought home gold with a 4:18.74. That performance far surpassed the second-place time of 4:27.09 recorded by the Algerian team of Karima Lahmar, Meriem Lamri, Sarah Habjabderahmane and Felle Bennaceur. Meanwhile, the Egyptian squad of Dina Hegazy, Salma Raouf Gasser, May Attef and Heba Yehia placed third in 4:30.18.

Kemp led off the South African contingent with a 1:05.69 in the backstroke leg before giving way to Laubscher’s breaststroke leg of 1:11.32 split. Werth took over in the butterfly leg with a 1:03.75 split, before Vorster anchored the victory with a 57.98 freestyle leg.

Remarkably, the win gave Laubscher her seventh gold medal of the meet.

Algeria holds on to second place spot on penultimate day of swimming championships

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Algeria finishes second with 24 medals: eight gold, nine silver and seven bronze

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A total of 137 swimmers from Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria took part in the "November 7th" Maghreb swimming competition, which wrapped up in Tunis on Sunday (November 5th). Tunisian swimmers won 15 gold medals, 16 silvers and 22 bronzes. Morocco won 13 gold medals, five silvers and four bronzes, while Algeria took six gold medals, nine silvers and four bronzes. The event coincided with the 19th anniversary of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali assuming power.

Maghreb swimming competition wraps up in Tunis