Swimmer Pieter Coetze sets world record in 50m backstroke — Daily Maverick

South African swimmer Pieter Coetze set a world record in the 50-metre backstroke at the Swimming World Cup in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. On 9 October, the 22-year-old covered the distance in 22.09 seconds, surpassing the previous record of Russian Kliment Kolesnikov — 22.11 seconds, set in 2022.

As Daily Maverick reports, Coetze also won his first career World Cup title. At the end of the three-week tournament, which consisted of three stages, he took first place in the overall standings and won 10 medals.

Two triple victories

At each of the three stages, Coetze won gold medals in the 100m and 200m backstroke events. This earned him two so-called triple crowns. The swimmer himself called the overall standings victory one of his most difficult achievements, as he had to maintain consistency and focus for three weeks.

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Coach Rocco Meiring initially considered Coetze's participation in the World Cup undesirable for the training schedule: the competition took place between the Commonwealth Games, which ended in August, and the World Short Course Swimming Championships in December. However, the swimmer insisted on competing because he wanted more starts, and the coach later acknowledged that the decision was right.

Preparing for Los Angeles

Meiring has coached Coetze since he was 16 in the University of Pretoria programme. At the 2024 Olympics in Paris, the swimmer reached the finals in the 100m and 200m backstroke, where he finished fifth and seventh, respectively. According to the coach, after Paris the athlete focused, among other things, on improving his underwater work.

After the World Cup, Coetze and Meiring are preparing for the World Championships in a 25-metre pool in December. The team's long-term goal is to arrive at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles ready to compete for a medal.