Swimmer Pieter Coetze wins 100m backstroke in 48.21 seconds — TimesLIVE

South African swimmer Pieter Coetze won the 100-metre backstroke at the second World Cup stop in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. His time of 48.21 seconds set an African record. Coetze was 0.05 seconds short of the world record set by Hungary’s Hubert Kós in October last year.

African record in the 100 metres

Coetze finished almost a second ahead of Pavel Samusenko, who came second. The day before, the 22-year-old athlete set a world record in the 50-metre backstroke — the first world record of his career, TimesLIVE reports.

The swimmer said he would use the next few days to process the achievement and regroup ahead of the next stop. He added that he had come close to the record in the 100 metres and saw opportunities to improve his result.

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Plans for the 2028 Olympics

Coetze, who trains at Tuks in Pretoria, said that setting a world record feels different from his previous achievements. Last year, he won the world championship in the 100-metre backstroke and also claimed silver medals in the 50- and 200-metre events. At the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow nearly three months ago, the athlete completed a winning backstroke hat-trick.

The swimmer plans to devote 2027 to training for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Ahead of the final World Cup stop in Astana, which will run from Thursday to Saturday, Coetze is second in the overall standings.