Pieter Coetzé powers to a shared silver in the 50m backstroke, his third medal and third African record at the World Championships in Singapore. Image: World Aquatics.
(The Post News)– Pieter Coetzé capped off a dream week in Singapore by grabbing his third medal at the World Aquatics Championships, this time a silver in the 50m backstroke.
The 20-year-old Tuks student is now part of an exclusive club. He’s only the second South African swimmer to ever win three medals at a single World Championships, joining Roland Schoeman, who achieved the feat in 2005. Coetzé leaves Singapore as the 100m backstroke world champion and silver medalist in both the 50m and 200m events, making him the only man to medal in all three backstroke distances at these championships.
In just seven days, Coetzé shattered three African records: 24.17s (50m), 51.85s (100m), and 1:53.36 (200m). That means he currently holds every long-course backstroke record on the continent.
Lining up for the 50m final as the third fastest qualifier, Coetzé touched the wall in exactly the same time as Russia’s Pavel Samusenko to share the silver. World record-holder Kliment Kolesnikov took gold with a championship record.
“I don’t really train for the 50,” Coetzé said with a smile, “so to win a medal in it is pretty special.” He added that the triple-medal moment feels surreal and shows he’s becoming the swimmer he’s always aimed to be.
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