Nathan Hendricks wins SA’s first Glasgow gold; men’s and women’s teams take relay bronze

Visually impaired swimmer Nathan Hendricks won South Africa’s first medal of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on Friday, taking gold in the men’s 100m freestyle S13. 

The Tuks swimmer powered his way into the lead going into the wall, but after the turn he was in total control, clocking 54.54sec. Scotland’s Stephen Clegg was second in 55.16. 

And then South Africa picked up a pair of bronzes  in the women’s and men’s 4x100m freestyle relays, with Pieter Coetzé, Chad Le Clos, Aimee Canny and Olivia Nel all cashing in. 

For veteran Le Clos, who clocked 48.29, he took his career tally to 19 Games medals, the most by any male athlete and just one behind Australian swimmer Emma McKeon, who holds the overall mark of 20. 

Olivia Nel produced a stunning anchor leg as she took the South African women’s 4x100m freestyle team from fourth place to the podium in a 3min 38.67sec African record. 

Nel clocked 54.29 over the final lap to secure a bronze for a team that included her twin sister Georgia, who had swum in the heats; in the stands was their mother, Annette Cowley-Nel, who exactly 40 years ago was barred from competing at the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh. 

Aimee Canny went off first and was fourth in 54.40, with Rebecca Meder taking the team to third with an effort of 54.46. Erin Gallagher completed the third leg in 55.52. 

Caitlin de Lange and Jessica Thompson also competed in the heats. 

The men clocked 3:13.99, with Coetzé leading the team off in 48.39, followed by Guy Brooks (48.98) and US-based Ruard van Renen (48.34), who pulled the team from fifth to third.

Le Clos made no mistake from there, also securing silverware for heat swimmer Kris Mihaylov. 

And there are sure to be more swimming medals on Saturday. 

Coetzé took pole position for Saturday’s 50m backstroke final, lowering the Games record he set in the morning to 24.29. 

And Van Renen won the first semifinal in 24.56 to take the second seeding in a final that features Australian Isaac Cooper and Oliver Morgan of England.

Gallagher and De Lange finished one-two in the first semifinal of the women’s 50m butterfly, and Jessica Thompson took third in the second race. 

Gallagher’s 25.69 was the second-fastest time overall and Thompson’s 26.02 ranks her fourth and De Lange is fifth on 26.28.  

Michael Houlie set a 26.38 Games and African record in the 50m breaststroke on the first half of the 100m breaststroke, where he qualified for Saturday’s final. 

The previous 26.49 Games mark was set by England’s Adam Peaty at Gold Coast 2018, while Cameron van der Burgh had posted the 26.54 continental record in 2017. 

Ramsay-Peaty, as the world record-holder is known since marrying the daughter of chef Gordon Ramsay, set the pace in the 100m breaststroke in 59.19. 

Houlie’s 1:00.03 was fifth-quickest overall. Chris Smith also advanced, with his 1:00.43 earning him the final eighth spot. 

Danika Vyncke, also visually impaired, beat her own African record, but had to settle for fourth in the women’s 100m freestyle S13 final in 1min 04.68sec. Compatriot Alani Ferreira was eighth in 1:06.05.  

In lawn bowls, Wayne Rittmuller beat Mitchell Graham of Norfolk Island 11-2 11-4 in their men’s singles sectional match. 

Daniel McLean finished top of the floor routine in his sub-division, and by the end of the competition was an impressive fourth — a confidence-booster ahead of the floor exercise final on Monday. 

It was a tough opening day for many Team South Africa competitors. 

Mihaylov swam a 2:03.57 personal best in the 200m individual medley, but it wasn’t enough to get into the eight-lane final. 

Hannah Robertson and Dune Coetzee were unable to advance beyond the 400m freestyle heats and Hannah Pearse missed out on a final spot by one-hundredth of a second. 

In lawn bowls The para mixed pairs outfit lost 0-2 to Scotland and 1.5-0.5 to Australia, while the women’s pairs went down 0-2 to India. 

Boxer Simamkele Damesi lost in the second round after suffering a cut in his 65kg contest against Ziggy Agathe of Mauritius. 

And the women’s wheelchair basketball team was thumped 19-3 by Canada.