BUDAPEST, TUESDAY, 20TH AUGUST 2019 - It was a slow start for the young Mzansi team during the first day of the 7th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships, taking place at the Danube Arena, in Budapest, Hungary today.

16 year old Lara van Niekerk successfully qualified for the final of the 50m breaststroke after she concluded the semi-finals in an overall fourth position, clocking 31.28, which is an improvement from the 31.51 she swam in the heats of the event. Team-mate Hanim Abrahams managed a 24th place finish during the morning heats in 33.01.

In the remaining heats sessions, Ruan Breytenbach finished 33rd in the 400m freestyle in 4:01.33 ahead of Righardt Muller, who clocked 4:03.93 and ended in 38th place.

Pieter Coetze and Dylan Wright concluded their 100m backstroke race in 27th and 46th place with a time of 56.76 and 58.58; while the 400m individual medley saw Tailyn Seyffert and Rebecca Meder finish 12th and 17th in 4:52.43 and 4:54.35, respectively.

Meder was also a part of the 4 x 200m freestyle relay team, alongside Dune Coetzee, Aimee Canny and Hannah Robertson. They finished in 11th place, clocking 8:17.81.

Michael Deans and Matthew Sates took to the water in the 100m breaststroke heats and finished 31st and 40th in 1:03.57 and 1:04.42, while Hannah Pearse and Michaela de Villiers ended 29th and 38th in the 100m backstroke, touching the wall in 1:04.74 and 1:06.10, respectively.

In the 4 x 100m freestyle relay, Matthew Bosch, Ethan Spieker, Kobe Ndebele and Gawie Nortje came in 10th place with a time of 3:24.75.