August 01 2002 at 01:48PM

Cape Town’s golden disabled swimmer Natalie du Toit qualified for the final of the able-bodied 800m freestyle with a gutsy swim on Thursday that made her a heroine of the Commonwealth Games.

The 18-year-old matric pupil powered her way into the hearts of the big crowd at the Manchester aquatic centre, where she made sporting history by become the first disabled swimmer to qualify for a final in the able-bodied section.

Du Toit, swimming in the second heat, finished fifth out of six swimmers, but was fast enough to reach Friday night’s final of the event – even though she lost her leg below the knee in a scooter accident last year.

In the heat, won by England’s Rebecca Cooke in 8min 33.31sec, Du Toit easily held off last-placed Roberta Callus for a place in the final.

Her time was 9min 12.14sec, way ahead of Callus’s 9:38.16.

It capped a wonderful 24 hours for the Reddam House girl, who last night added a sixth gold medal to South Africa’s total by winning the 50m multi-disability freestyle.

Earlier, in the heats of that event, she had set a world record of 29.53sec.

Four years ago, as a novice, Du Toit swam as an able-bodied athlete in the Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games, reaching the B-final of the 800m freestyle.

On Thursday she said she was hoping to concentrate on the longer events. Her ultimate goal was the Olympics of 2004 in Athens.