Thursday, 23 June 2022 – South Africa’s Matt Sates finished in eighth place in his first ever World Championships final on Wednesday night. The 18-year-old was the youngest swimmer in the 200m individual medley final and was third quickest off the blocks. He then touched in second place on the first turn after the butterfly leg but dropped well back on the backstroke and left himself with too much catching up to do. Sates finished in 1:58.27 with Frenchman Leon Marchand taking the gold in 1:55.22, American Carson Foster t... Read More

Wednesday, 22 June 2022 – Matt Sates booked a place in his first ever World Championships final in Budapest on Tuesday. The 18-year-old from Pietermaritzburg swam 1:57.74 to finish third in his 200m individual medley semi-final on Tuesday night to secure a place in Wednesday’s final as the eighth quickest swimmer. Earlier in the day Sates was second behind Japan’s defending champion Daiya Seto in his morning heat in 1:58.61 to qualify seventh fastest overall for the semi-finals. Sates reached the semi-finals in the sa... Read More

Sunday, 19 June 2022 – Two of South Africa’s teenage swimmers reached their respective semi-finals at their first World Championships in Budapest on Sunday. Lara van Niekerk finished fifth in her 100m breaststroke heat to progress to the evening semi-final after finishing in a time of 1:06.75. The 19-year-old from Pretoria then led in the first 50m of her semi-final but slowed in the second half of the race, swimming exactly the same time as her morning swim to finish in seventh place and did not progress to Monday’s final.... Read More

Friday, 17 June 2022 – A team of 66 swimmers, divers, water polo players and artistic swimmers and their coaches are headed for Budapest to represent South Africa at the FINA World Aquatics Championships from 18 June to 3 July. Heading the medal charge will be a strong team of swimmers, many of them competing at their first World Championships. Among them is Matt Sates, who last year made a name for himself by claiming the overall FINA World Cup title in the short course pool (25m) and recently took the Mare Nostrum series by storm, se... Read More

27 May 2022 – Matt Sates found himself in a familiar position on top of the podium after claiming another gold medal on the second night of racing at the second leg of the Mare Nostrum series in Barcelona on Thursday. The 18-year-old South African claimed two golds on Wednesday night and added a third in the 200m individual medley in Spain. Sates finished over a body-length ahead of the chasing pack, reaching the finish in 1:58.31 with Switzerland’s Jeremy Desplanches second in 2:00.30 and Italian Alberto Razzetti third i... Read More