Ronan Wantenaar made history on Monday when he became the first Namibian swimmer to qualify for a final at the Commonwealth Games.
On Sunday, he came second in his first round heat in 27.13 seconds to progress to the semi-finals, in which he came third in 27.21 to make it through to the final.
That was also the fifth-fastest semi-final time and put him in contention for a medal, but competing against some of the world’s top swimmers in the final he had to settle for sixth place in 27.31.
Sam Williamson of Australia, who had earlier won gold in the 100m breaststroke, won his second gold medal in a time of 26.50, while South Africa’s Michael Houlie won silver in 26.77 and Adam Ramsay-Peaty of England bronze in 26.94.
Wantenaar’s time was well off his personal best and national record time of 26.85 and he says he is quite disappointed with his performance.
“I was very excited to race, but I’m not very happy with the time I got. I was hoping to go below 27 seconds, but you win some and you lose some. It’s just a bit difficult for me now, trying to see what I did wrong, and knowing I can do so much more,” he says.
“I was hoping for a medal, but it’s a 50m race and anything can happen. I’m a bit disappointed, of course, but you learn a lot more from your losses,” he says.
Wantenaar, however, says he is proud of making history for Namibia at the Commonwealth Games.
“It’s a big achievement, but I think this is just the beginning. There’s a lot more in store and I think it’s a great first step in the right direction,” he says, adding his main aim is to qualify for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
“I’ll just have to put my head down, work hard and get the results I want, but also not be completely discouraged if I don’t get what I want from all my races,” he says.
Wantenaar is the only Namibian swimmer to reach a final so far, but some reached semi-finals, while a few national records have also been broken.
On Monday morning, Jessica Humphrey came fifth in her 50m backstroke heat in a new Namibian record of 29.08 seconds, while she broke that record again with a time of 28.88 when she came fifth in her semi-final heat in the evening.
Yesterday morning, Humphrey once again excelled when she broke Monica Dahl’s long-standing 50m freestyle record of 26.76 that was established at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games with a time of 26.33, although she missed out on a place in the semifinals.
Luke Beukes set a new Namibian open record when he won his 50m butterfly heat in 24.82 seconds, but missed out on a semi-final place, while Oliver Durand came fifth in his 200m butterfly heat in a Namibian open record of 2:01.84, but missed out on the final.
Durand also came fifth in his 400m individual medley heat in 4:27.85, while Jose Canjulo came sixth in his 200m breaststroke heat in 2:26.68.
Two Namibian boxers, meanwhile, progressed to the quarter-finals, while a third was quite unlucky not to do so.
On Monday night, Philip Haoseb overshadowed Charif Yaya of Togo from the start in their 55kg bout, before the referee stopped the fight in the second round to give Haoseb the victory.
He was due to take on Alex Mukuka of New Zealand last night.
Tryagain Ndevelo also gave a dominant display to beat M R Reza of Bangladesh 5-0 in a 60kg fight on Monday night, and will next face Niall Adams of Guernsey tonight.
Mischa Araes will also be in action tonight when she takes on Nadeeka Ranasinghe of Sri Lanka in a women’s 51kg quarter-final bout after receiving a first-round bye.
Gebhard Ipinge, however, was unlucky to lose his 80kg fight against Paul Trainor of Australia on a split decision 3-2.
In athletics, Lionel Coetzee reached the long jump final with a leap of 7.66m on Monday, but Elvis Gaseb, who came third in his 400m heat in 47.30, missed out on the semi-finals.
