Seagulls swoop on relay record

The KwaZulu-Natal Championships finished with yet another flourish from the powerful Mr Price Seagulls squad, with their 4x100m medley relay team smashing the provincial record by almost 3.5 seconds.

It has been a five-day weekend of glory for coach Graham Hill, who has seen his proteges stick to the demanding schedule expected of them over the past three or four months, and the records - at personal and national level - have taken a tumble at the King's Park pool.

"I am happy, really happy at their efforts," said Hill of his entire club's efforts before being dumped into the pool fully clothed by the medley senior squad of Alain Tardin (backstroke leg, 59.08), Brett Petersen (breaststroke, 1:04.50), Stephan Ackermann (butterfly, 55.70) and Terence Parkin (freestyle, 52.73).

Melissa Corfe had set the standard once again with two more outstanding individual swims earlier in the day, before anchoring the women's open 4x100m medley relay team to yet another title.

Her crowning glory in a weekend which had seen her claim two national records in the 400m and 1 500m freestyle events was the 100m freestyle title, followed in quick succession by victory in the 200m backstroke event, which featured her maiden victory over world cup star Charlene Wittstock.

Craig Jollands of Kloof claimed the men's 200m backstroke title, less than three seconds off the provincial record set by Greg Main-Baillie in 1996.

Petersen claimed the honours in the men's 50m breaststroke from Parkin in a time just a fraction of a second outside the world championship qualifying mark.

Ilse Otto, 14, who had broken Corfe's 14-15 age-group record in qualifying for the 50m backstroke final, showed that she is going to be one to watch in the near future with another title.

Parkin had cruised to victory in the 400m IM in a time just two seconds outside the Olympic qualifying mark and, given the fact that his focus has been on wife Ingrid's imminent birth of their first child next week, he will surely attain the target at the SA Championships in the same pool in the first week of April.

Paul Bees (PMB Seals) broke his own record in the 50m backstroke event for men 14-15, while visiting Peter Todd of Central Gauteng was within four hundredths of a second of the long-standing record set by Cliffie Lyne in 1984 in the 12-13 200m IM.

Ackermann's victory in the 100m freestyle saw him continue to chip away at the national record set by Ryk Neethling and, if the 19-year-old continues to progress at his current rate, he will probably post an Olympic qualifying time at this same gala next year.

He certainly has shown the heart to cope with this demanding sprint event over the past few days, particularly with his efforts in the relay events.

With the announcement of the provincial team to represent KwaZulu-Natal at the inter-provincial championships, the balance of the side looks to be slightly in favour of the top women.

But the return of several KZN stars from their studies in the United States may see the hosts dominate in April even more so than is usual.