By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
South Africa won their first medal at the World Aquatics Championships after Pieter Coetzé clinched gold in the 100m backstroke on Tuesday.
Coetzé, 21, was third fastest in the semifinals, but outduelled Olympic champion Thomas Ceccon and France’s Yohann Ndoye-Brouard in the second half of the final to reach the wall in a sensationally quick new African record time of 51.85 seconds, just .25 of a second off Ceccon’s world record.
The Italian was second in 51.90 seconds, with Ndoye-Brouard third in 51.92 and 200m backstroke Olympic champion Hubert Kos relegated to fourth in 52.20.
“I always thought it would happen eventually,” admitted Coetzé afterwards during his poolside TV interview. “In my mind, it was just a matter of time, but to do it this year is amazing.”
With one medal already in the bag, Coetzé still has the 50m and 200m backstroke events to come.
Earlier in the evening, Coetzé’s teammate Chris Smith booked his ticket to the final of the 50m breaststroke. The 19-year-old won his morning heat in 26.82 seconds and then went even better in the evening semifinals, finishing second in a personal best time of 26.77 seconds, behind Koen de Groot (26.71). That saw him through to Wednesday’s final as the joint fifth-fastest.
The other South African in action in the evening session was Aimee Canny, who had finished third in her morning heat in 1:57.53 to qualify eighth fastest for the 200m freestyle semifinals. She went slightly slower in the semifinal, finishing in sixth place in 1:57.72, missing out on the final in 12th overall.