The second evening of the Telkom South African short course championships got off to a cracker jack start in front of a near capacity crowd at the Kings Park Pool in Durban on Friday night.

Zoe Baker from Great Britain shaved ,03 seconds off the ladies 50m breaststroke world record when she posted a 30.53 in the final of the Telkom International Challenge against South African ace Sarah Poewe. The previous best was held by Xuejuan Lui and Wei Li, both of China who tied at the recent FINA World Cup meet in Shanghai in a time of 30.56. Poewe posted a 30.97.

The crowd witnessed the fall of South African golden girl of swimming Penny Heyns' continental mark in the 200m breastroke. In an epic duel it was the USA's Amanda Beard who took the honors in 2:22.65 ahead of Sarah Poewe (Vineyard) who was game in posting 2:23.08 . Heyns' previous mark was 2:24.27, which until Hui Qi from China swam a phenomenal 2:19.25 in January last year, was the world record. Sara Nordenstam from Sweden claimed the bronze in a distant 2:30.66

First up were the quarterfinal elimination rounds of the Telkom International Challenge.

It was Swedens' Johanna Sjoberg who posted the fastest time of 25.26 in the ladies 50m freestyle when she edged Martina Marovcova from Slovakia in an exciting contest. Marovcova's time of 25.68 was a tad slower than local lass Christy Cech from Pietermaritzburg Seals who won her eliminator in convincing fashion in 25.67. Sjobergs' compatriot, Anna-Karin Kammerling completed the quartet in a time of 26.12.

The men's 50m freestyle eliminator followed with Roland Schoeman (PAC)(22.08) and Brendon Dedekind (Pietermaritzburg Seals) (22.21) both capitalizing on electrifying starts to proceed into the semi-final eliminator later in the evening as the top two seeds. Dedekinds' teammate Nick Folker (22.40) and Swedish ace Lars Frolander (22.54) are sure to provide stiff opposition here.

In the ladies 50m backstroke, Charlene Wittstock continued her recent run of form when she showed great underwater work in posting a credible 28.58 to claim her place in the South African team for the forthcoming FINA World Short Course Championships in Moscow. The Mr. Price Seagulls swimmer looked comfortable and is sure to come up against Sarah Price of Great Briton in tomorrow nights final. Price posted a 28.91 while Candice Little (Mustangs) (30.54) and Bevin Reynolds (30.56) appear to be due for elimination.

The men's 50m butterfly completed the early eliminators and it was Roland Schoeman (24.29) and Lars Frolander (24.30) who had the crowd on their feet. Both look likely to progress to tomorrow night's head to head final and what a scintillating affair this will be. The promising Lynden Ferns (Pietersburg) (24.96) cannot be underestimated, however his lack of quality under water work is sure to count against him. The quartet was completed with the powerful Stephen Ackermann who posted a 25.01.

The men's 100m breastroke semi finals followed and it was that man Terence Parkin who once again took the bull by the horns, going into the turns aggressively and using his powerful stroke to pull away from the chasing pack to qualify in a classy time of 1:00.91, just slightly off his continental mark of 1:00.82 established in February 2000 in Europe. The pack bunched in the 1:02 region included Swede Martin Gustafsson (1:02.42), teammate Jens Johanssen (1:02.54), Louis Lotter (PAC) (1:02.74), Brad Toerien (Kings Park Falcons) (1:02.82), Brett Peterson (Mr. Price Seagulls) (1:02.85) and Ian Clutten (1:02.93). The final will certainly be a closely contested affair on Saturday night.

The ladies 100m individual medley saw the bulk of the Swedish squad progress through to the final claiming no less than six places in Saturday nights final. Emma Igelstrom (1:04.14), Sara Nordenstam (1:04.55), Ida Matteson(1:05.55), Josefin Lillhage (1:05.13), Johanna Sjoberg (1:05.30) and Lotta Wannberg (1:06.74) dominated proceedings while locals Candice Little (Mustangs) (1:06.12) and Melanie Greyling (Westville) (1:06.64) prevented a total whitewash by the visitors.

The men's 100m individual medley saw Terence Parkin post the fastest time of the semis after stalwart Theo Verster had withdrawn after the morning's heats. Verster was in fine fettle when he slashed ,37 seconds off Brendon Dedekinds' continental mark of 55.41 established at the Long Street Pool in Cape Town in 1997. Parkin could claim this mark after posting a 56.30 comfortably. All eyes will however be on Alain Tardin from Mr. Price Seagulls who posted a 56.36 to be a tad off the SA qualifying time for the FINA World Short Course time of 55.81. The Swedish duo of Eric Dorch (56.31) and Per Nylin (57.33) should provide the locals with some stiff opposition in the final.

The men's 100m butterfly was a pleasure. Frolander donned the ?suit? and turned on the gas. Out like a flash it was always a question as to who would finish second behind him and here Versters' decision to withdraw from the IM was vindicated. The stalwart kept the Olympic Champion in his sights and was rewarded with a respectable 52.38 to claim silver behind Frolander who always seemed in control. The Swede posted a 51.92, the fastest time for the 100m butterfly (SC) ever swum on the African continent. The promising Lynden Ferns (Pietersburg) claimed the bronze in 54.33 and can be well satisfied with his performance. With some work on his turns and an extension of his under water work, this lad could just be a future national champion.

The men's 400m freestyle turned into a all British affair with Greame Smith (3:49.32) setting off at a scorching pace, never to be challenge and claimed the title comfortably in a respectable 3:49.32.Edward Sinclear (3:53.97) took the silver while Adrian Turner(3:57.97) worked hard from the outside to hold off Mr. Price Seagulls stalwart Gareth Fowler (3:57.92), who prevented a clean sweep by the visitors. Mark Lewis one of the early pace setters faded and had to settle for fourth place in 3:59.92.

Johanna Sjoberg (54.68) took the 100m freestyle in convincing fashion. Working her turns the Swedish ace built up a half a body length lead over second placed Heleen Muller (Dolphins) and was always in control, Muller claimed the silver in 55.46 while Sweden's Josefin Lillage (55.77) edged out Christy Cech (Pietermaritzburg Seals) (56.11) to claim bronze.

The men's 200m backstroke saw yet another great swim. This time it was Stephen Parry from Great Britain who swam the fastest 200m backstroke ever on the African continent when he crushed the opposition in posting an impressive 1:55.56. The previous best was swum by Simon Thirsk in May 2000 when he posted a 1:56.38 at the NCAA division 1 finals. Garreth McGee (Mr. Price Seagulls) took the silver in 2:00.94 while the sixteen year old Jarryd Botha from Matties claimed bronze in 2:02.41.

The ladies 100m backstroke final followed with another visitor, Sarah Price from Great Britain claiming the honors in a continental best of 59.97 ahead of Charlene Wittstock (Mr. Price Seagulls) who was a tad of her record claiming silver in 1:00.68. Bronze went to Romina Armellini (Wanderers) who recorded a time of 1:02.57.

The finals of the Telkom International Challenge followed.

The ladies 50m freestyle saw Anna-Karin Kammerling from Sweden power her way past Slovakian ace Martina Marovcova in the home stretch to claim the title in convincing fashion. Her time of 26.13 was nearly a second off her world mark of 25.36 but enough to claim victory. Marovcova recorded 26.62.

Brett Peterson (Mr. Price Seagulls) broke the visitors domination when he claimed victory in the 50m breastroke when he swam a 27.69 to edge out Sweden's' Jens Johansson (27.93)

Baker followed with a world record in the 50m breaststroke when she dominated from the gun. Poewe had to settle for the minor placing on the night.

The last final of the evening in the Sprint Challenge was the men's 50m backstroke. This was an all Swedish Affair with Jens Petersson edging out Daniel Lonnberg in a closely contested affair. Petersson was victorious in a time of 25.60, while Lonnberg had to settle for a 25.73.

The last individual event of the evening was the ladies 800m freestyle. Melissa Corfe from Mr. Price Seagulls was out in a flash and systematically built up a commanding lead over the chasing pack. Her reward was a new continental mark when she smashed the previous best by nearly ten seconds. Her time of 8:38.45 bettered Marika Theunissens 2000 record of 8:47.22. A fine performance by the fifteen-year-old schoolgirl who has a bright future in the pool. Second place and silver went to Natalie du Toit (Vineyard) who recorded a time of 8:49.53 to claim her second silver medal of the meet, while Martha van Wyk took the bronze in 8:51.44.

The eliminators for Saturdays' Telkom International Sprint Challenge followed and it was Swedish duo of Johanna Sjoberg (24.99) and Anna-Karen Kammerling (25.29) who advanced through to the final at the expense of Martina Marovcova (25.51) and Christy Cech (25.56).

Roland Schoeman (21.83) and Lars Frolander (22.13) will come head to head in the 50m butterfly final after accounting for Nick Folker (22.31) and Brendon Dedekind (22.14) respectively. The duel between Frolander and Dedkind was a humdinger and it was a pity that there had to be a loser.

In the ladies 50m backstroke, Charlene Wittstock is set to take on Sarah Price of Great Britain in what is sure to be a pulsating final. Wittstock recorded a 28.60 while Price settled for a 29.79. They accounted for Bevin Reynolds (30.40) and Candice Little (30.73) respectively

                 Telkom S A National Swimming (25m) Championships                  
                         Durban -  3 to 6 January 2002                         
                                    Results                                    
 
Event 105  Men 100 SC Meter Butterfly
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       World: # 50.44  08/12/2000  Lars Frolander                      
      Africa: & 52.14  23/05/2000  Roland M Schoeman at NCAA Div       
South Africa: * 52.14  23/05/2000  Roland M Schoeman at NCAA Div       
                53.14  WSC
    Name               Age Team                   Semis     Finals       Points 
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Finals
  1 Fr