Kayla van der Merwe

Kayla van der Merwe (born 15 November 2002) is a British competitive swimmer. At the 2019 World Junior Championships, she won the silver medal in the 50 metre breaststroke and the bronze medal in the 100 metre breaststroke. She won the gold medal in the 100 metre breaststroke and bronze medals in the 200 metre breaststroke and 4×100 metre medley relay at the 2019 European Junior Championships.

Background Van der Merwe was born on 15 November 2002 in Great Britain."Kayla van der Merwe: Results". FINA. Retrieved 10 February 2022. She trains in England and formerly competed for the Winchester City Penguins.Ross, Andy (26 April 2019). "British Swimming Selects World Junior, European Junior Championship Teams". Swimming World. Retrieved 10 February 2022. She currently competes with the Poole swim club.

Career 2019 2019 European Junior Championships In July 2019, Van der Merwe competed at the 2019 European Junior Swimming Championships, held in Kazan, Russia at the Palace of Water Sports, where she won the gold medal in the 100 metre breaststroke with a time of 1:07.12, the bronze medal in the 200 metre breaststroke in 2:26.55, a bronze medal in the 4×100 metre medley relay, where she split a 1:07.70 for the breaststroke leg of the relay in the final, and placed 4th in both the 50 metre breaststroke, with a 31.47, and the 4×100 metre mixed medley relay, splitting a 1:07.80 for the breaststroke leg of the relay.LEN (7 July 2019). "LEN European Junior Swimming Championships: Complete Results". Microplus Informatica. Retrieved 10 February 2022.

2019 World Junior Championships

At the 2019 World Junior Championships at Danube Arena in Budapest, Hungary, Van der Merwe won the silver medal in the 50 metre breaststroke with a personal best time of 30.91 seconds, which was 0.31 seconds slower than the gold medalist in the event, Benedetta Pilato of Italy.FINA (21 August 2019). "7th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships Budapest (HUN): Women's 50m Breaststroke Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 10 February 2022. In the 100 metre breaststroke, she won the bronze medal and set a new British age group record with her time of 1:07.06 for the 16-year-old girls age group, finishing just 0.09 seconds behind silver medalist Kaitlyn Dobler of the United States and 0.04 seconds ahead of fourth-place finisher Anastasia Makarova of Russia.FINA (23 August 2019). "7th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships Budapest (HUN): Women's 100m Breaststroke Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 10 February 2022.Lepesant, Anne (23 August 2019). "Kayla Van Der Merwe Lowers 100 Breast British Age Group Record To 1:07.06". SwimSwam. Retrieved 10 February 2022. For her third and final individual event, Van der Merwe placed fourth in the final of the 200 metre breaststroke in 2:25.27, which was 0.28 seconds behind the bronze medalist in the event Mei Ishihara of Japan.FINA (25 August 2019). "7th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships Budapest (HUN): Women's 200m Breaststroke Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 10 February 2022.

2019 European Short Course Championships The 2019 European Short Course Swimming Championships was the swimming competition at which Van der Merwe made her senior international debut. As part of the competition, held at Tollcross International Swimming Centre in December in Glasgow, Scotland, she placed 34th in the prelims heats of the 50 metre breaststroke with a time of 31.36 seconds.LEN (4 December 2019). "LEN European Short Course Swimming Championships 2019 Glasgow (GBR): Results Women's 50m Breaststroke Preliminary". Microplus Informatica. Retrieved 10 February 2022. In the 100 metre breaststroke prelims heats, she swam a 1:06.83 and placed 24th overall.LEN (6 December 2019). "LEN European Short Course Swimming Championships 2019 Glasgow (GBR): Results Women's 100m Breaststroke Preliminary". Microplus Informatica. Retrieved 10 February 2022. She placed 11th in the prelims heats of the 200 metre breaststroke with a 2:23.15.LEN (8 December 2019). "LEN European Short Course Swimming Championships 2019 Glasgow (GBR): Results Women's 200m Breaststroke Preliminary". Microplus Informatica. Retrieved 10 February 2022. For the prelims heats of the 4×50 metre medley relay, she split a 31.01 for the breaststroke leg of the relay in the prelims heats, helping qualify the relay for the final ranking third.LEN (8 December 2019). "LEN European Short Course Swimming Championships 2019 Glasgow (GBR): Results Women's 4x50m Medley Preliminary". Microplus Informatica. Retrieved 10 February 2022. In the final, Siobhan-Marie O'Connor substituted in for Van der Merwe and the relay placed fifth in 1:45.65.LEN (8 December 2019). "LEN European Short Course Swimming Championships 2019 Glasgow (GBR): Results Women's 4x50m Medley Final". Microplus Informatica. Retrieved 9 February 2022.

2020–2022 At the LEN Swimming Cup stop in Luxembourg in January 2020, Van der Merwe won a gold medal in the 100 metre breaststroke along with Matilde Schrøder of Denmark, who she tied, and a silver medal in the 200 metre breaststroke."Van der Merwe claims breaststroke gold in Luxembourg". British Swimming. 27 January 2020. Retrieved 10 February 2022. In January 2021, Van der Merwe was named to the England Swimming Team in advance of the 2022 Commonwealth Games.Byrnes, Liz (12 January 2021). "85 Named On England Swimming Team Ahead Of 2022 Commonwealth Games". Swimming World. Retrieved 10 February 2022.

On the first day of the 2022 British Swimming Championships in early April, the selection meet for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Van der Merwe tied for eleventh-rank in the preliminary heats of the 50 metre breaststroke with a time of 32.61 seconds, qualifying for the b-final."British Swimming Championships 2022: Women Open 50m Breaststroke - Heats Full Results". British Swimming. 5 April 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2022. In the evening b-final she placed third, eleventh overall, with a time of 32.39 seconds."British Swimming Championships 2022: Women Open 50m Breaststroke - B Final Full Results". British Swimming. 5 April 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2022. For the 200 metre breaststroke prelims heats on day two, she decided not to compete."British Swimming Championships 2022: Women Open 200m Breaststroke - Heats Full Results". British Swimming. 6 April 2022. Retrieved 11 April 2022. The sixth and final day, she swam a 1:09.22 in the prelims heats of the 100 metre breaststroke, qualifying for the final ranking fourth."British Swimming Championships 2022: Women Open 100m Breaststroke - Heats Full Results". British Swimming. 10 April 2022. Retrieved 10 April 2022.Race, Retta (10 April 2022). "2022 British Swimming Championships Day 6 Prelims Recap". SwimSwam. Retrieved 10 April 2022. She swam a 1:08.83 in the final to place fourth, finishing over four-tenths of a second ahead of fifth-place finisher Abbie Wood and 1.31 seconds behind first-place finisher Kara Hanlon."British Swimming Championships 2022: Women Open 100m Breaststroke - Final Full Results". British Swimming. 10 April 2022. Retrieved 10 April 2022. In July, at the 2022 British Summer Swimming Championships, she improved upon her time and placing in the 50 metre breaststroke from April, winning the bronze medal with a time of 32.31 seconds."Summer Champs provides spectacle on day two". British Swimming. 23 July 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2023.

2023 At the 2023 Australian Swimming Trials in Melbourne, Australia, Van der Merwe ranked sixth in the preliminaries of the 100 metre breaststroke on day two with a 1:10.03 and qualified for the evening final. She went on to place second in the b-final with a time of 1:09.40."Meet Results: 2023 Australian Swimming Trials". Swimming Australia. 14 June 2023. Retrieved 14 June 2023.

International championships Meet50 breaststroke100 breaststroke200 breaststroke4×50 medley relay4×100 medley relay4×100 mixed medley relay Junior level EJC 2019(age: 16) 4th(31.47) (1:07.12) (2:26.55) (split 1:07.70, br leg) 4th(split 1:07.80, br leg) WJC 2019(age: 16) (30.91) (1:07.06) 4th(2:25.27) Senior level ESC 2019(age: 17) 34th(31.36) 24th(1:06.83) 11th(2:23.15) 5th(split 31.01, br leg) Van der Merwe swam only in the prelims heats.

Personal best times Long course metres (50 m pool) Event Time Meet Location Date Age Ref 50 m breaststroke 30.91 2019 World Junior Championships Budapest, Hungary 21 August 2019 16 100 m breaststroke 1:07.06 2019 World Junior Championships Budapest, Hungary 23 August 2019 16 200 m breaststroke 2:25.27 2019 World Junior Championships Budapest, Hungary 25 August 2019 16

Short course metres (25 m pool) Event Time Meet Location Date Age Ref 50 m breaststroke 31.36 h 2019 European Short Course Championships Glasgow, Scotland 4 December 2019 17 100 m breaststroke 1:06.06 2019 Manchester International Manchester 20 October 2019 16 200 m breaststroke 2:22.10 2019 International Swimming League London 23 November 2019 17 Legend: h – heat

Awards and honours Swim England, Talent Athlete of the Year (Swimming): 2019Race, Retta (1 December 2019). "Van Der Merwe Takes Home Top Honor At Swim England Awards". SwimSwam. Retrieved 10 February 2022.

References

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