# South Africa at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships

South Africa competed at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan from 14 to 30 July.

## Medalists

| Medal | Name | Sport | Event | Date |
| Gold | Tatjana Schoenmaker | Swimming | Women's 200 m breaststroke | July 28 |
| Silver | Tatjana Schoenmaker | Swimming | Women's 100 m breaststroke | July 25 |

## Athletes by discipline

The following is the list of number of competitors participating at the Championships per discipline.
| Sport | Men | Women | Total |
| Artistic swimming | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Diving | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Open water swimming | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Swimming | 4 | 7 | 11 |
| Water polo | 14 | 13 | 27 |
| Total | 22 | 29 | 51 |

## Artistic swimming

South Africa entered 3 artistic swimmers.

### Women

| Athlete | Event | Preliminaries | Preliminaries | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Points | Rank | Points | Rank |
| Skye MacDonald | Solo technical routine | 158.9600 | 26 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Skye MacDonald | Solo free routine | 122.4375 | 22 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Jess Hayes-Hill Laura Strugnell | Duet technical routine | 126.7933 | 38 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Jess Hayes-Hill Laura Strugnell | Duet free routine | 121.1624 | 28 | Did not advance | Did not advance |

## Diving

South Africa entered 4 divers.

### Men

| Athlete | Event | Preliminaries | Preliminaries | Semifinal | Semifinal | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Points | Rank | Points | Rank | Points | Rank |
| Stefan Steenkamp | 1 m springboard | 219.30 | 61 | — | — | Did not advance | Did not advance |

### Women

| Athlete | Event | Preliminaries | Preliminaries | Semifinal | Semifinal | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Points | Rank | Points | Rank | Points | Rank |
| Bailey Heydra | 1 m springboard | 202.00 | 36 | — | — | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Bailey Heydra | 3 m springboard | 188.40 | 49 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Julia Vincent | 1 m springboard | 242.25 | 6 Q | — | — | 227.05 | 11 |
| Julia Vincent | 3 m springboard | 277.70 | 14 Q | 295.95 | 11 Q | 297.30 | 10 |
| Bailey Heydra Zalika Methula | 3 m synchro springboard | 220.14 | 17 | — | — | Did not advance | Did not advance |

## Open water swimming

South Africa entered 6 open water swimmers.

### Men

| Athlete | Event | Time | Rank |
| Joshua Ashley | Men's 10 km | 2:04:53.6 | 52 |
| Connor Buck | Men's 5 km | 56:52.4 | 23 |
| Connor Buck | Men's 10 km | 2:01:34.7 | 43 |
| Matthew Caldwell | Men's 5 km | DNF | DNF |

### Women

| Athlete | Event | Time | Rank |
| Kate Beavon | Women's 5 km | 1:02:46.5 | 42 |
| Amica de Jager | Women's 5 km | 1:01:28.9 | 24 |
| Amica de Jager | Women's 10 km | 2:10:31.9 | 40 |
| Tory Earle | Women's 10 km | 2:19:27.7 | 51 |

### Mixed

| Athlete | Event | Time | Rank |
| Amica de Jager Kate Beavon Matthew Caldwell Connor Buck | Team relay | 1:16:12.1 | 14 |

## Swimming

South Africa entered 11 swimmers. Chad Le Clos was originally named in the team, however withdrew due to illness.

### Men

| Athlete | Event | Heat | Heat | Semifinal | Semifinal | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank |
| Michael Houlie | 50 m breaststroke | 27.31 | 14 Q | 27.57 | 16 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Michael Houlie | 100 m breaststroke | 1:01.58 | 30 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Clayton Jimmie | 100 m freestyle | 49.95 | 43 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Clayton Jimmie | 50 m backstroke | 25.97 | 37 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Righardt Muller | 200 m freestyle | 1:52.25 | 44 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Righardt Muller | 800 m freestyle | 8:07.08 | 31 | — | — | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Righardt Muller | 1500 m freestyle | 15:33.82 | 23 | — | — | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Roland Schoeman | 50 m freestyle | 22.87 | 50 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Roland Schoeman | 50 m butterfly | 24.02 | 44 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |

### Women

| Athlete | Event | Heat | Heat | Semifinal | Semifinal | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank |
| Aimee Canny | 100 m freestyle | 54.60 | 14 Q | 54.87 | 16 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Aimee Canny | 200 m freestyle | 1:59.30 | 24 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Emma Chelius | 50 m freestyle | 25.34 | 23 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Milla Drakopoulos | 50 m backstroke | 29.31 | 37 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Milla Drakopoulos | 100 m backstroke | 1:02.77 | 35 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Trinity Hearne | 100 m butterfly | 1:00.27 | 29 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Trinity Hearne | 200 m butterfly | 2:14.78 | 26 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Rebecca Meder | 200 m individual medley | 2:10.95 NR | 11 Q | 2:11.16 | 10 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Rebecca Meder | 400 m individual medley | 4:45.68 | 21 | — | — | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Tatjana Schoenmaker | 50 m breaststroke | 30.70 | 14 | Withdraw | Withdraw | Withdraw | Withdraw |
| Tatjana Schoenmaker | 100 m breaststroke | 1:05.56 | 3 Q | 1:05.53 | 3 Q | 1:05.84 | |
| Tatjana Schoenmaker | 200 m breaststroke | 2:22.92 | 2 Q | 2:21.31 | 1 Q | 2:20.80 | |
| Lara van Niekerk | 50 m breaststroke | 30.76 | 17 Q | 29.91 | 3 Q | 30.09 | 4 |
| Lara van Niekerk | 100 m breaststroke | 1:07.03 | 18 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Aimee Canny Emma Chelius Milla Drakopoulos Trinity Hearne | 4 × 100 m freestyle relay | 3:45.54 | 17 | — | — | Did not advance | Did not advance |

### Mixed

| Athlete | Event | Heat | Heat | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Time | Rank | Time | Rank |
| Clayton Jimmie Aimee Canny Roland Schoeman Rebecca Meder | 4 × 100 m freestyle relay | 3:30.16 AF | 18 | Did not advance | Did not advance |

## Water polo
### Summary

| Team | Event | Group stage | Group stage | Group stage | Group stage | Playoff | Quarterfinal | Semifinal | Final / BM | Final / BM |
| Team | Event | Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Rank | Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Rank |
| South Africa | Men's tournament | Montenegro L 10–35 | Serbia L 5–30 | Spain L 6–27 | 4 | — | — | Argentina L 6–15 | China L 8–16 | 16 |
| South Africa | Women's tournament | Greece L 2–24 | Italy L 2–24 | Argentina W 12–9 | 3 QP | Canada L 6–21 | — | France L 6–20 | New Zealand L 6–25 | 12 |

### Men's tournament
#### Team roster

The following is the South African roster.
Head coach: Vaughn Marlow
* 1 Lwazi Madi GK
* 2 Chad Roman FP
* 3 Niall Wheeler FP
* 4 Ignardus Badenhorst FP
* 5 Cameron Laurenson FP
* 6 Ross Stone FP
* 7 Dane Tucker FP
* 8 Manqoba Bungane FP
* 9 Dylan Cronje FP
* 10 Joshua Faber FP
* 11 Todd Howard FP
* 12 Jonathan Swanepoel FP
* 13 Gareth May GK
* Sven van Zyl FP

#### Group play

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | PSW | PSL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Spain | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 54 | 27 | +27 | 9 | Quarterfinals |
| 2 | Serbia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 57 | 34 | +23 | 5 | Playoffs |
| 3 | Montenegro | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 55 | 34 | +21 | 4 | Playoffs |
| 4 | South Africa | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 21 | 92 | −71 | 0 | |
| 17 July 2023 17:30 | Report | Montenegro | 35–10 | South Africa | Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Sebastien Dervieux (FRA), Georgios Stavridis (GRE) |
| Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Sebastien Dervieux (FRA), Georgios Stavridis (GRE) |||
| 17 July 2023 17:30 | Report | Radović 7 | Goals | four players 2 | Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Sebastien Dervieux (FRA), Georgios Stavridis (GRE) |
| 19 July 2023 16:00 | Report | South Africa | 5–30 | Serbia | Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: David Couper (NZL), Chisato Kurosaki (JPN) |
| Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: David Couper (NZL), Chisato Kurosaki (JPN) |||
| 19 July 2023 16:00 | Report | Laurenson 2 | Goals | Jakšić, Rašović 6 | Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: David Couper (NZL), Chisato Kurosaki (JPN) |
| 21 July 2023 10:30 | Report | South Africa | 6–27 | Spain | Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Sebastien Dervieux (FRA), Natalia Markopoulou (GRE) |
| Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Sebastien Dervieux (FRA), Natalia Markopoulou (GRE) |||
| 21 July 2023 10:30 | Report | Badenhorst 2 | Goals | Valera 5 | Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Sebastien Dervieux (FRA), Natalia Markopoulou (GRE) |

#### 13–16th place semifinals

| 23 July 2023 10:30 | Report | Argentina | 15–6 | South Africa | Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Nóra Debreceni (HUN), David Couper (NZL) |
| Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Nóra Debreceni (HUN), David Couper (NZL) |||
| 23 July 2023 10:30 | Report | Camnasio 4 | Goals | Wheeler 2 | Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Nóra Debreceni (HUN), David Couper (NZL) |

#### 15th place game

| 25 July 2023 09:00 | Report | China | 16–8 | South Africa | Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Germán Moller (ARG), Hélène Painchaud (CAN) |
| Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Germán Moller (ARG), Hélène Painchaud (CAN) |||
| 25 July 2023 09:00 | Report | Chen Z. 7 | Goals | Badenhorst, Howard 2 | Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Germán Moller (ARG), Hélène Painchaud (CAN) |

### Women's tournament
#### Team roster

The following is the South African roster.
Head coach: Nicola Barrett
* 1 Meghan Maartens GK
* 2 Tumi Macdonell FP
* 3 Annie Thornton-Dibb FP
* 4 Boati Motau FP
* 5 Megan Sileno FP
* 6 Hanna Muller FP
* 7 Shakira January FP
* 8 Esihle Zondo FP
* 9 Ruby Versfeld FP
* 10 Nicola Macleod FP
* 11 Chloe Meecham FP
* 12 Kelsey White FP
* 13 Olufunke Gando GK

#### Group play

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | PSW | PSL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Greece | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 61 | 16 | +45 | 9 | Quarterfinals |
| 2 | Italy | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 63 | 19 | +44 | 6 | Playoffs |
| 3 | South Africa | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 57 | −41 | 3 | Playoffs |
| 4 | Argentina | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 60 | −48 | 0 | |
| 16 July 2023 17:30 | Report | Greece | 24–2 | South Africa | Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Nicola Johnson (AUS), Darren Spiritsanto (USA) |
| Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Nicola Johnson (AUS), Darren Spiritsanto (USA) |||
| 16 July 2023 17:30 | Report | Fountotou, E. Plevritou 4 | Goals | Sileno, Zondo 1 | Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Nicola Johnson (AUS), Darren Spiritsanto (USA) |
| 18 July 2023 12:00 | Report | South Africa | 2–24 | Italy | Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Jennifer McCall (USA), Chisato Kurosaki (JPN) |
| Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Jennifer McCall (USA), Chisato Kurosaki (JPN) |||
| 18 July 2023 12:00 | Report | MacDonell, Meecham 1 | Goals | Bettini, Giustini 4 | Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Jennifer McCall (USA), Chisato Kurosaki (JPN) |
| 20 July 2023 09:00 | Report | Argentina | 9–12 | South Africa | Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: David Gómez (ESP), Jennifer McCall (USA), |
| Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: David Gómez (ESP), Jennifer McCall (USA), |||
| 20 July 2023 09:00 | Report | Auliel 4 | Goals | Meecham 3 | Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: David Gómez (ESP), Jennifer McCall (USA), |

#### Playoffs

| 22 July 2023 18:30 | Report | South Africa | 6–21 | Canada | Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Nicola Johnson (AUS), David Couper (NZL) |
| Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Nicola Johnson (AUS), David Couper (NZL) |||
| 22 July 2023 18:30 | Report | Thornton-Dibb 2 | Goals | Wright 4 | Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Nicola Johnson (AUS), David Couper (NZL) |

#### 9–12th place semifinals

| 24 July 2023 13:30 | Report | France | 20–6 | South Africa | Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Hélène Painchaud (CAN), Germán Moller (ARG) |
| Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Hélène Painchaud (CAN), Germán Moller (ARG) |||
| 24 July 2023 13:30 | Report | Vernoux 6 | Goals | Thornton-Dibb 3 | Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Hélène Painchaud (CAN), Germán Moller (ARG) |

#### Eleventh place game

| 26 July 2023 09:00 | Report | New Zealand | 25–6 | South Africa | Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Chisato Kurosaki (JPN), Adil Aimbetov (KAZ) |
| Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Chisato Kurosaki (JPN), Adil Aimbetov (KAZ) |||
| 26 July 2023 09:00 | Report | Houghton 7 | Goals | Meecham, Versfeld 2 | Marine Messe Fukuoka, Fukuoka Referees: Chisato Kurosaki (JPN), Adil Aimbetov (KAZ) |