South African swimmers create magic at the 15thFINA World Championships in Barcelona, Spain. Chad Le Clos and Cameron van der Burgh won gold medals and Guilio Zorzi won a bronze medal. Le Clos, 21, clocked at the time of 54.32 seconds to claim a world title. ”It is the first time I have won a world title so it is a landmark moment for me” Le Clos told the BBC. ”Also, I wanted to win this title to mark the anniversary of my Olympic title a year on”.
Van der Burgh, 25, who is the world record holder of 50m, won it in a time of 26.77 seconds and brought a gold medal for South Africa.“It is a special night for SA swimming and to share the medals and podium with Giulio is special to me and him as well,” said Van der Burgh.“This is a new era of SA swimming and there is welcomed pressure to add to the sport in SA. It’s now up to Swimming South Africa [the national body] to step up and make swimming bigger.”To add on to the special moment of medals, South African swimmer Guilio Zorzi, who was swimming in his first major finals, won bronze in the 50m breaststroke. Zorzi said he was so happy that he could hardly explain it.
“It is the best third place I ever got. To get a medal at the world championships is the best. I am so happy and proud of myself,” said Zorzi.
