Rebecca Meder delivered another stellar performance at the World Short Course Championships in Budapest, claiming two African records in a single day. The 22-year-old placed sixth in the 100m breaststroke final with a personal best of 1:03.93, narrowly missing Tatjana Smith’s continental record. China’s Qianting Tang took the win, almost matching the world record.
Just 30 minutes later, Meder returned for the 100m individual medley semifinals. After setting a new African record of 58.44 seconds in the heats, she stunned again with a 57.69 finish—smashing her earlier mark and earning a spot in her third final of the meet. American Gretchen Walsh won the semifinal in a world-record time of 55.71 seconds.
“Swimming against Gretchen, I knew she’d break the world record,” said Meder. “It’s amazing to race athletes like her and Kate Douglass. It prepares me for LA 2028.”
Ruard van Renen also clocked a personal best in the 50m backstroke semifinal with 23.21 seconds but missed the final. Meanwhile, Chad le Clos couldn’t defend his 200m butterfly title, falling short in the heats with a time of 1:51.89. Canada’s Ilya Kharun, just 19, won the event in 1:48.24.
Jessica Thompson (50m backstroke) and Arno Kruger (400m freestyle) finished 21st and 25th overall, respectively. The women’s 4x200m freestyle relay team placed 10th, just outside of final qualification.
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