Youth Olympian eases to 200m breaststroke victory
South African Youth Olympian Jarred Crous cleared the pool for a comfortable win in his Men 18-and-over 200m breaststroke final qualification heat, during the Gauteng Schools Swimming Trials held at the Boksburg North Indoor Swimming Pool on Saturday, September 6.
The 18-year-old recently returned from the Nanjing Summer Youth Olympics where he competed in the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke events, finishing 4th, 6th and 6th respectively.
He was also part of the 4x100m freestyle and medley relay races where team SA finished 8th and 4th in both events.
The event, which was organised by the Gauteng Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation, was a platform for the selection of the team which will represent Gauteng at the SA Schools Games between December 10 and 15, at Hillcrest Swimming Pool in Pretoria.
A total of 425 swimmers battled it out for selection spots, with both enabled bodied and disabled athletes participating.
Provincial Departments of Education along with Sport and Recreation sponsored the event.
Crous, who completed the 200m in 2:19.40, also dominated in the shorter 50 and 100m distances, clocking 28.77 and 1:02.92 respectively, on his way to receiving the medal for Best Male Swimmer of the day, according to FINA points.
Asked about his 200m performance, the Crawford College student responded: “I pushed hard in the first 100 (metres) and took it easy in the second leg.”
Crawford College had another stand-out performer on the day in the form of Crous’ counterpart Tove van Zyl, who won a whopping six gold medals.
Van Zyl won her gold in the 50m and 100m butterfly, 50m and 100m breaststroke, 50m backstroke and 200m individual medley events.
The Gauteng team is expected to be announced imminently.
Results:
Jarred Crous (Men 18 and over): 50m breaststroke – 28.77; 100m breaststroke – 1:02.92; 200m breaststroke – 2:19.40.
Tove van Zyl (Women under 17): 50m and 100m breaststroke – 35.54, 1:20.76; 50 and 100m butterfly – 31.50, 1:10:20; 50m backstroke – 34.24; 200m individual medley – 2:32.47. – @SabeloBoksburg
