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Swimming fans came to the arena with the expectation of seeing Lize-Mari Retief clipping more time off her national 100 metres butterfly record of 59.17, and they were not disappointed when Retief cruised to victory in the semi-final heats in an Olympic qualifying time of 58.70. Two-time Olympian Mandy Loots was next best in 59.59.

Capetonian Wendy Trott, who clocked an Olympic qualifying time in the 400 metres freestyle earlier in the week, also qualified for the SA shortlist for the Beijing Olympics, as she set a new SA record in the 800 metres freestyle, touching the timing pads in 8:34.11. KwaZulu Natal’s Kathryn Meaklim was second in 8:44.95, followed by Paralympic star Natalie du Toit (8:55.77).

Suzaan van Biljon has looked in impressive form at the national championships this week, and her Olympic qualifying time of 2:36.88 in a semi-final of the 100 metres breaststroke has set her up for even greater things to come. Meanwhile, Port Elizabeth’s 12-year-old record-breaking star Jessica Liss posted the second fastest time of 2:29.36.