Team SA Olympian Rebecca Meder returned to the podium at the second stop of the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup series in Westmont, Illinois over the weekend.
The 23-year-old added to her haul of two bronze medals from the first stop a week earlier with another bronze in the 200m breaststroke.
Meder stopped the clock at 2min 18.88sec to secure third spot behind Olympic champion Kate Douglass, who took gold in 2:14.57 and her fellow American Alex Walsh, who just snuck the silver ahead of Meder in 2:18.54.
The New Zealand-based star, who reached all the finals of her respective events, finished fifth in the 100m breaststroke in 1:05.35. The race was won in 1:03.14 by Douglass, who also set a world record in the 100m freestyle over the weekend. Ireland’s Mona McSharry took silver in 1:04.18 and Walsh the bronze.
After topping the time sheets in the heats of the 200m individual medley, Meder finished fifth in the final in 2:07.60. Gold was won by Walsh in 2:04.44, while silver went to Israel’s Anastasia Gorbenko in 2:04.93 and bronze to Britain’s Abbie Wood in 2:05.73.
Meder finished seventh in her other event of the meet – the 100m individual medley in 58.31 seconds. The race was won by Walsh in a World Cup record time of 55.77 seconds.
While her times weren’t quite as quick as they were at the opening stop of the series in Carmel, Meder was pleased with her overall performance.
“It was another solid weekend of racing. Unfortunately, I started fighting a head cold on Wednesday, but I am grateful that I made finals for all of my races and finished 17th overall for this stop,” she said afterwards.
“The 200 and 100 breaststroke events are relatively new (I’ve only been racing them internationally for a year), so I am grateful for this experience where I get to race the world’s best and to learn and grow with every race. I am looking forward to another weekend of racing in Canada.”
The third and final stop of the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup series takes place in Toronto from 23-25 October. Meder heads into the competition currently ranked 14th overall in the women’s World Cup standings.
Meder’s coach, Graham Hill, believes this experience racing against the likes Douglass and Walsh has been invaluable, saying: “Hopefully the race experience she will gain from the three stops will move her to another level when she races at some major competitions like Commonwealth Games and Olympics.”
