21-year-old Pieter Coetzé claimed South Africa’s first gold medal at the World University Games in Rhine-Ruhr yesterday with his victory in the 100m backstroke.
His winning time of 51.99 seconds is a new African and World Student Record. For now, it is also the fastest time in the world. It is incredible how Coetzé swam a speedier time every time he dived in. In the heats, his time was 53.34 seconds, and in the semi-finals, it was 52.18 seconds.
There is a good chance that Coetze will win another medal tomorrow. His time of 24.69 seconds in the heats of the 50m backstroke was the fastest this morning.
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He also qualified for the semi-finals in the 100m freestyle this morning. His time of 49.02 seconds was the fifth fastest. Coetzé is a specialist backstroke swimmer, but he makes no secret of the fact that he enjoys swimming the freestyle when the opportunity arises. He boasts the best time of 48.63 seconds. If he can get close to swimming in the final, there is a good chance he will win a third medal tomorrow.
He will, unfortunately, not compete in the 200m backstroke as he will also be competing in the World Championships in Singapore, which start this coming weekend.
The time difference between Germany and Singapore is six hours. According to head coach Rocco Meiring, Coetzé must have sufficient time to acclimatise. Therefore, he will miss out on competing in the 200 m backstroke.
Coetzé is often referred to as a true competitor. Someone who likes to test himself against the best. When asked if this is the case, the swimmer replied, “A lot of times when I train, it feels like I’m just an average swimmer. When I race, something happens. I’m different when competing than when training. I like competition and the pressure that comes with it.”
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In an interview earlier this year, the Tuks swimmer mentioned that when it comes to pure swimming, he is one of the fastest. Asked to explain, he said, “It’s not me saying that. Many coaches from around the world have made the observation.
“According to them, there are few swimmers who can keep up with me when I swim. It’s with the underwater technique and the turns that I lose time. I could see that clearly when I watched last year’s videos of the Olympic 100 and 200-meter backstroke finals. The underwater technique doesn’t come naturally to me, but I’ve put in a lot of effort to improve it. I am better at it now.”
The 200, 100, or 50 meter backstroke – which one does he prefer?
“You could say the 200m backstroke is my best event, but I will always compete in the 100 and 50 meters. Remember, I come from a sprint background.”
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As it goes during any Games, the swimmers are once again stepping up. South Africa is currently third on the medal table with three medals. Lara van Niekerk won a silver medal in the 50m breaststroke. The South African 4x100m mixed relay team (Ruard van Renene, Simone Moll, Guy Brooks, Olivia Nel and Michaela de Villiers) won bronze.
The USA has won 17 medals (8 gold, 4 silver, and 5 bronze) so far, and Japan has won 5 (1 gold, 1 silver, and 3 bronze).
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