Nine from nine for golden Sates at Mare Nostrum series

Matt Sates completed an astounding clean sweep of golds in each of his events at the Mare Nostrum series in Europe by clinching victory in the 200m individual medley in Canet, France on Sunday.

Having secured 400m individual medley gold on Saturday, the 18-year-old raced to one more win on the final night of the event on Sunday.

Swimming in lane three, Sates stormed into the lead on the butterfly leg but dropped well back on the backstroke. He made up significant time on the breaststroke leg but was still second behind American Samuel Stewart at the final turn. 

True to form, the Maritzburg star's final 50m of freestyle saw him storming to the front and then winning by a body length.

Sates clinched the gold in 1:57.77, with Stewart second in 1:59.15 and Olympic bronze medallist Jeremy Desplanches third in 1:59.28. That brought his total of gold medals to nine from nine events.

"I was happy to go under 1:58 again, so this is my third best time," he said afterwards.

"The Mare Nostrum tour is something my coach has always told me we would go to, and I've enjoyed it and learnt a lot.

"Racing swimmers at this level has been amazing, although when you suddenly realise you are racing for big prize money, it does make you a bit nervous. But I've always been told to concentrate on the race and performance, so that's worked for me," added Sates, whose efforts saw him finishing third in the overall Mare Nostrum standings.

Earlier in the evening, Lara van Niekerk also added to her significant medal haul, taking silver in the 50m breaststroke.

The 19-year-old finished second in 30.25 behind Olympic 100m breaststroke champion Lydia Jacoby, who took the gold in 30.20.

Van Niekerk finished the series in second place overall in the women's