South Africa's Chanel Veldsman adds 100m breaststroke silver to her 200m bronze, taking almost a second and a half off her morning time, while Algeria's Houd Abed charges from last at the turn to seventh in the men's 100m backstroke final
DAKAR, Senegal, Tuesday 3 November 2026 – Twenty-four hours after her first Olympic medal, Chanel Veldsman went one better. The 17-year-old South African swam 1:09.48 to win silver in the women's 100m breaststroke at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, finishing just 0.67 behind Japan's Ishikawa Mana, the same swimmer who beat her to 200m gold on Monday.
The silver makes Veldsman the first African swimmer to win two medals at these Games. It is South Africa's third medal in the pool and Africa's fourth, and it moves South Africa to the top of the continent's medal count by total.
Algeria's Houd Abed also delivered in the men's 100m backstroke final, coming through from eighth at halfway to finish seventh in 58.09, his second backstroke final of the Games.
Veldsman: Closer Than Ever
In the morning heats, Veldsman had finished 0.97 behind Ishikawa. In the final she cut that gap to 0.67.
From lane three, she went out in 32.81, second at the turn and only 0.22 behind Ishikawa (32.59). The Japanese champion came home in 36.22 to win in 1:08.81, but Veldsman held off Hong Kong's Man Wui Kiu comfortably, touching 0.85 seconds clear of the bronze medallist (1:10.33). Austria's Lilli Paier was fourth, as she had been behind Veldsman in Monday's 200m final.
Veldsman's 1:09.48 was 1.45 seconds faster than her heats swim of 1:10.93, and her opening 50m was more than half a second quicker than in the morning (33.38).
Veldsman's Dakar So Far
Veldsman has now swum four breaststroke races in Dakar, and she has been at or near the front early in every one of them. In Monday's 200m heats she led her heat at both 50m and 100m before qualifying third in 2:33.36. In the 200m final she turned second and took bronze in 2:30.87. This morning she qualified third for the 100m final in 1:10.93, and this afternoon she was again second at the turn before finishing second.
Across both distances she has improved from heats to final each time, by 2.49 seconds in the 200m and 1.45 seconds in the 100m. Ishikawa has won both finals, with China's Chang Mohan also ahead of her in the 200m.
Abed: From Last to Seventh
Houd Abed qualified eighth for the men's 100m backstroke final and swam from lane eight. He turned last in 28.43, but the 16-year-old Algerian came home in 29.66, faster than three of the swimmers ahead of him at halfway, and passed the Cayman Islands' Lev Fahy to finish seventh in 58.09, by just 0.04.
That was 0.64 seconds faster than his morning swim. After fifth place in Sunday's 200m backstroke final, it completes a strong double for Abed. New Zealand's Ariel Muchirahondo won gold in 55.69, adding to his 200m backstroke title.
Reserves Ready, Not Called
Tunisia's Ilef Omri (women's 100m breaststroke) and Kenya's Jeremy Rieck (men's 100m backstroke) were first reserves after the heats. Both finals went ahead with the original eight qualifiers.
The Continental Picture
Day three brought Africa two top-six finishes in the men's 400m freestyle this morning, with South Africa's Matthew Goller fifth after a 28.37 final length and Tunisia's Youssef Douma sixth after coming through from a slower heat. The afternoon added a seventh place for Abed and a second medal for Veldsman. Three days into the swimming programme, Africa has four medals from two nations, and Veldsman has become the face of South Africa's challenge in the pool. The swimming programme at Dakar 2026 continues at the Complexe Tour de l'Oeuf.
Results: African Finalists – Day 3 Finals
Women's 100m Breaststroke – Final
| Place | Swimmer | NOC | Lane | R.T. | 50m | Final | Heats | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 (Silver) | Chanel VELDSMAN | RSA | 3 | 0.67 | 32.81 | 1:09.48 | 1:10.93 | -1.45 |
Podium: 1. ISHIKAWA Mana (JPN) 1:08.81; 2. Chanel VELDSMAN (RSA) 1:09.48; 3. MAN Wui Kiu (HKG) 1:10.33
Men's 100m Backstroke – Final
| Place | Swimmer | NOC | Lane | R.T. | 50m | Final | Heats | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Houd ABED | ALG | 8 | 0.67 | 28.43 | 58.09 | 58.73 | -0.64 |
Podium: 1. Ariel MUCHIRAHONDO (NZL) 55.69; 2. Nikolaos PAPATHEODOROU (GRE) 55.79; 3. Miguel REIS OLIVEIRA (POR) 56.24
African Swimming Medal Tracker – Dakar 2026 (Cumulative)
| Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Egypt | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| South Africa | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Africa Total | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
African Medallists So Far
| Medal | Swimmer | NOC | Event | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | Zain ALI | EGY | Men's 100m Butterfly | 52.16 |
| Silver | Leah MARKGRAAFF | RSA | Women's 400m Freestyle | 4:26.13 |
| Silver | Chanel VELDSMAN | RSA | Women's 100m Breaststroke | 1:09.48 |
| Bronze | Chanel VELDSMAN | RSA | Women's 200m Breaststroke | 2:30.87 |
Sources: Official Results, Events 12–13, Finals, Dakar 2026 (Tuesday 3 November 2026, reports v1.0, 15:11–15:37).
Picture by Handout image supplied by OIS/IOC. Olympic Information Services OIS.OIS/Remi Vallat
