Natalie du Toit was the star for Team South Africa at the International Paralympic Committee’s Swimming World Championships in Eindhoven, Holland, which ended on the weekend, claiming six gold medals, one silver and one bronze.

Du Toit, who earlier this year was crowned the Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability, ended on a high by dominating the opposition in the five-kilometre open water swim.

She completed the event in one hour and 22 seconds, finishing a massive six minutes and 26 seconds ahead of second-placed Elodie Lorandi of France.

Better than the men

Not only did she finish first among the swimmers in classes S1 to S10, she also bettered the best time swum by a man in the event. Australia’s Brendan Hall won the men’s race in one hour, one minute and 13 seconds.

Du Toit began the championships in winning form, picking up gold in the 100 metres S9 class on the opening day in a time of 1:08.30, more than two-and-a-half seconds clear of second-placed Sarai Gasco. It wasn’t as fast as Du Toit’s own world record, however, which she set at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

On day two she contested the 200 metres individual medley in the SM9 class and again was too much for her opponents, winning the gold medal in 2:32.11, with Louise Watkin some way back in second in 2:37.71.

On the same day she took part in the 100 metres breaststroke in the SB 8 class and finished in the bronze medal position.

Du Toit scored her third gold medal on day three when she won the 100 metres freestyle in 1:02.79. As happened in a number of her events during the course of the championships, she didn’t set a new world record (something that has become almost a common occurrence), but that was once again because the record belonged to her already.

Massive vicory

The next day Du Toit was the winner of the 400 metres freestyle in 4:30.64, which saw her bettering second-placed Stephanie Millward by a massive 16.23 seconds.

The South African golden girl was a little off her best on the fifth day of competition, having to settle for second in the 50 metres freestyle in 29.65 seconds. Louise Watkin won in 29.26 – 0.22 seconds off Du Toit’s world record.

On day six, Du Toit captured the 100 metres backstroke title in the S9 category in 1:09.93, with world record holder Stephanie Dixon (1:09.30) relegated to third place.

More South African medals

Kevin Paul won silver the 100 metres breaststroke in the men’s SB 9 class. His time of 1:07.29 was a South African record.

Charl Bouwer collected two silver medals. He finished behind Dzmitry Salei in the 100 metres freestyle in the S13 category in 53.38 seconds, just 0.01 seconds outside the previous world record. Salei, however, set a new mark of 53.15.

Bouwer was second in the 400 metres freestyle in 4:11.77, well inside the world record that he had held of 4:13.10. Unfortunately for the South African, Ihar Boki had destroyed the previous mark, racing to victory in 4:06.91.

Medals table

South Africa finished 13th on the medals table. Only three countries bettered Du Toit’s personal haul of six gold medals in women’s events.

Ukraine topped the table, just ahead of the USA, with Russia in third place.

While South Africa’s medal haul was not a big one, many swimmers qualified for finals and came close to landing more medals besides those won, underlining the fact that Paralympic swimming is in good health in the country.

Natalie Du Toit swam to her sixth gold medal of the IPC World Swimming Championships when she won the open water 5-kilometre swim (S9 category) in Eindhoven, Netherlands on Saturday.

Du Toit clocked 1hr 00min 20sec for victory. She will now return to South Africa with six golds, a silver and a bronze medal.

Team South Africa won 11 medals in total at the championships, Kevin Paul’s silver and Charl Bouwer’s two silvers making up the tally.

The only other South African in action on Saturday was Tiaan du Plessis in the men’s 5km open water long haul (S8).

He ended 15th in 1:15.00. – Sapa

Eindhoven – Paralympic swim star Natalie du Toit grabbed South Africa’s second gold medal in as many days at the IPC World Swimming Championships in Eindhoven, Netherlands on Monday.

In Sunday’s opening day, Du Toit took Team SA’s first gold when she won the 100m butterfly title (S9 category) in 1:08.30.

On Monday she went on to win the 200m Individual Medley final in 2:32.31.

But she wasn’t done with that achievement as she took a bronze medal in the 100m breaststroke final (SB8) when she clocked 1:25.95 for a national record in this event.

Her achievements mean she has now won all three of South Africa’s medals at the championships.

She was one of four South Africans involved in finals on Monday.

Best of the rest was Port Elizabeth’s Kevin Paul who took fourth in the 200m Individual Medley final (S10) with a 2:15.61 national record.

Other SA finalists were Renette Bloem (seventh in the 100m breaststroke S11 category, 1:39.57) and Hendri Herbst (eighth in the 100m breaststroke S12 category, 1:29.49).

Source: Sport24

A team of 20 South African swimmers will be in action at the IPC Swimming World Championships in Eindhoven, Netherlands from August 15-21.

The squad will be accompanied by manager Daphne Bird, coach Theo Verster and 10 other administrative personnel.

Among the top swimmers in the line-up are paralympics ace Natalie du Toit, recently in action at the World Open Water Championships in Canada, rising star Kevin Paul and shark-bite victim Achmat Hassiem.

A total of 659 athletes from 55 different countries will be competing at the championships, one of the largest of any previous championships.

The meeting is vital for South Africa’s swimmers as these are the first stages of the long qualification process for the next Olympic Games in London, 2012.

“It’s a strong team with definite medal chances,” said Bird.

“Our top hopes will rest with Natalie (Du Toit), Kevin (Paul) and Charl (Bouwer) as well as Shireen (Sapiro).

“It’s also the first time in many years that we have swimmers in  the S14 category (intellectually challenged). In this regard Craig Groenewald is expected to do well.

“Other S14 swimmers are Challis Wright and Yvonne Smith. It’s Smith’s first major international competition.”

Other debutantes for this competition will be Hendri Herbst and  Marike Naude.

The SA team: Sarah Shannon, Adri Visser, Beth Nothling, Chad Gifford, Hendrik van der Merwe, Sibusiso Mogale, Christiaan Du Plessis, Natalie Du Toit, Emily Gray, Achmat Hassiem, Kevin Paul, Shireen Sapiro, Charl Bouwer, Renette Bloem, Sean Clarke, Craig Groenewald, Hendri Herbst, Marike Naude, Challis Wright, Yvonne Smith.

–Sapa–

With the final entry deadline past, the list of athletes and teams set to compete in the upcoming 2010 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Swimming World Championships has reached a record level.

A total of 664 athletes from 57 different countries will be participating in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, competing for the gold, silver and bronze medal in their respective event. The number of participating athletes and countries in Eindhoven will be one of the largest of any previous Swimming World Championships.

Participation also includes one athlete representing Trinidad & Tobago, whose National Paralympic Committee was ratified as a member of the IPC in 2009.

For other teams participating, the official ‘Team Leaders Manual’ is now available online on the IPC Swimming website. The manual offers a complete and comprehensive overview of all matters related to the World Championships in Eindhoven, including transportation, accommodation, logistics and the competition schedule.

Many high-profile athletes will be at the World Championships, including South Africa’s Paralympic gold medallist Natalie du Toit, Great Britain’s Eleanor Simmonds, USA’s Erin Popovich, Canada’s Donovan Tildesley, and Australia’s rising star Ahmed Kelly.

Coverage of the competitions will be available on the IPC’s official internet channel www.ParalympicSport.TV, as well as on Great Britain’s Channel Four, the official broadcaster of the London 2012 Paralympic Games, and ABC in Australia.

The 2010 IPC Swimming World Championships will take place from 15-21 August inside the Pieter van den Hoogenband Swimming Stadium. Many of the athletes competed previously at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, 2009 IPC Swimming European Championships in Iceland, 2009 IPC Swimming World Championships Short Course in Brazil, and the 2010 BT Paralympic World Cup in Great Britain.

The World Championships are organized with the help of the NPC The Netherlands, the Foundation WC Swimming 2010, Disabled Sports the Netherlands, the city of Eindhoven, and the Dutch Swimming Federation (KNZB).

Along with competitions, a number of side events are also taking place in Eindhoven, like a presentation of the latest in Swimming innovations, reunion of former Paralympic swimmers, and various meetings of sports associations and coaches. The big event will also be offering a special Observers’ Programme for all Organizing Committees who are interested in planning future Swimming competitions. The Observers’ Programme will be lead by representatives from the IPC and the Local Organizing Committee in Eindhoven.

For more information about the 2010 IPC Swimming World Championships, please visit www.wcswimming2010.com.

For more information about IPC Swimming, please visit the official website at www.ipc-swimming.org.

To find the qualification rankings for IPC Swimming, please visit http://www.ipc-swimming.org/rankings/.