Team SA were involved in three sports on day one of the Fisu World University Games being staged in Germany until 25 July. This is a breakdown of how they performed.
BASKETBALL (3×3)
Men, Group C: South Africa lost 21-13 to Lithuania
Men, Group C: South Africa lost 21-11 to Poland
SWIMMING
Men’s 50m butterfly, heats: Owethu Mahan won his heat in 24.93, while Guy Brooks finished 3rd in his heat in 24.46. Neither qualified for the semi-finals (last 16)
Men’s 100m breaststroke, heats: Matthew Randle finished 6th in his heat in 1:01.70 and didn;t progress to the semi-finals (last 16), while Michael Houlie was a non-starter in his heat
Men’s 400m freestyle, heats: Cameron Casali won his heat in 3:54.70, while Righardt Muller finished 3rd in the same heat in 3:56.04. Neither progressed to the final
Men’s 4x100m freestyle, heats: South Africa (Pieter Coetze, Ruard van Renen, Arno Kruger and Guy Brooks) finished 3rd in their heat in 3:17.61 behind the USA and Japan and qualified for the final as 3rd fastest
Women’s 50m butterfly, heats: Kate Mayer finished 4th in her heat in 28.21 and didn’t progress to the semi-finals (last 16)
Women’s 200m backstroke, heats: Hannah Pearse finished 4th in her heat in 2:11.80 and qualified for the semi-finals as 7th fastest
Women’s 4x100m, heats: South Africa (Olivia Nel, Georgia Nel, Michaela de Villiers and Hannah Robertson) finished 3rd in their heat in 3:43.65 behind Italy and China and qualified for the final as 5th fastest
TENNIS
Men’s singles, round of 64: Jason Fogle (SA) lost to Alessio Vasquez (Ger) 6-1 6-2
Women’s singles, round of 64: Lilitha Ndungane lost to Kate Fakih (USA) 6-2 6-1
Five cities in the Rhine-Ruhr region – Bochum, Duisburg, Essen, Hagen and Mülheim an der Ruhr – as well as capital Berlin will host the competitions.
Team SA is competing in eight codes: Athletics, Rowing, Swimming, Diving, Archery, Fencing, Tennis, and 3×3 Basketball.
Several high-profile Olympians from Paris 2024 are in the squad of 110 athletes – including Bayanda Walaza, Bradley Nkoana and Zeney Geldenhuys (athletics), Pieter Coetze (swimming) and Harry Saner (fencing). Commonwealth Games gold medallist swimmer Lara van Niekerk also forms part of the strong squad.
