Pieter Coetzé bounced back from a shaky start to storm into the 200m backstroke final with an African record. Image Source: World Aquatics
Pretoria swimmers Pieter Coetzé and Kaylene Corbett delivered strong semi-final performances at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore on Thursday, setting themselves up for medal contention in Friday’s finals.
Coetzé, already crowned 100m backstroke champion earlier in the week, made a big statement in the 200m backstroke. After barely sneaking into the semis as the 16th-fastest qualifier in 1:57.11, he bounced back in the evening with a blistering 1:54.22, smashing his own African record. That time would have won Olympic gold in Paris last year and now places him among the frontrunners for the title.
Reflecting on the turnaround, the 21-year-old admitted he misjudged his pace in the morning. “Scraping through gave me a wake-up call,” he said. “I went into the semi-final feeling grateful just to be there, and it helped me race smarter.”
Corbett also kept up her streak of making finals on the international stage. The 26-year-old placed seventh overall in the 200m breaststroke with a time of 2:23.81, and will face tough competition from the USA’s Olympic champion Kate Douglass and Russia’s world record-holder Evgeniia Chikunova.
SA’s Rebecca Meder and Erin Gallagher missed out on further rounds, while the 4x200m relay team finished 10th.
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