Teenage swimmer's joy at gold for SA and new record

South Africa teenage swimming sensation Lara van Niekerk has won her country’s first gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in the UK city of Birmingham.

The 19-year-old also set a new Commonwealth Games record with a time of 29.73 seconds in the women’s 50m breaststroke final.

"After breaking the record in the heats, I was like, let me try break it every single time," she said.

"So that was the goal just trying to shave off a little bit more each look each time and get faster."

Van Niekerk added that racing in front of a crowd had been exhilarating and had spurred her on.

"It's amazing. I haven't been in a crowd this big in my life - at the World Championships it wasn't as big. So it was amazing. And it's so loud out there."

This article originally appeared on BBC Sport

Photo: Getty Images