Chris Smith and Aimee Canny advanced to the semifinals at the world championships in Singapore on Tuesday to ensure countryman Pieter Coetzé has company at night.
Teenager Smith, a finalist at the world short-course championships in Budapest last year, powered into the final 16 of the 50m breaststroke as he won the final heat of the morning in a 26.82sec personal best.
He was sixth fastest overall and will compete in lane three in the first of the two night semifinals (1.36pm SA time).
His time lifted him to joint second on South Africa’s all-time list, level with Michael Houlie, who missed the gala after undergoing an emergency appendectomy.
Former world record-holder Cameron van der Burgh tops the list on 26.54.
Italy’s junior world record-holder in the event, Simone Cerasuolo set the pace in the heats with 26.42, ahead of Japan’s Taku Taniguchi (26.65) and 2024 European 100m breaststroke champion Melvin Imoudi of Germany (26.74).
With the 50m races of the breaststroke, backstroke and butterfly added to the Olympic programme, the three events are enjoying more focus.
Olympian Canny finished third in her 200m freestyle heat in 1min 57.53sec to rank eighth overall going into the evening semifinals (2.12pm SA time).
Coetzé is in action in the 100m backstroke final at 1.59pm.
So far five South Africans have advanced to the semifinals with Erin Gallagher and Rebecca Meder also making the top 16, though so far Coetzé is the only one to have made a final.
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