South African swimmer Pieter Coetzé broke the men’s 50m backstroke world record at the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup in Tashkent on Friday. The 22-year-old won the final in 22.09 seconds.
His time was 0.02 seconds faster than the old short-course record of 22.11. Kliment Kolesnikov set that mark in 2022, IOL reported.
“That race was stacked,” Coetzé said in his post-race interview. “We had Isaac Cooper, the world-record holder who’s on fire, and then myself, so I really don’t think I was the favourite going into that one.”
Coetzé was joint second at the 25-metre mark. He then finished strongly to touch ahead of series leader Egor Kornev, who clocked 22.29. Pavel Samusenko came third in 22.35.
The swimmer said he did not realise at first that he had set a world record. “Seeing that time on the board, it didn’t even click that it was a world record,” he said.
“And then, like, a second later, I was like: ‘Oh! The world record was 22.1.’ So, not many words to describe that. It’s crazy,” Coetzé said.
Coetzé is a world and Commonwealth Games champion. He was asked if the record changes his plans for the rest of the World Cup series.
“I don’t think it changes much. My mindset normally stays the same, no matter what the race is, because, you know, at this level everyone is always close,” he said.
“I mean, the world-record holder was there and look how close it was. So, no, you can never get too comfortable. I’ll just keep doing the same,” he added.
Six days earlier, Coetzé swam 22.51 in the same event at the first leg of the series in Baku, Azerbaijan. That time was an African record.
He won four medals in Baku. He took gold in the 100m backstroke in an African record of 49.11, and gold in the 200m backstroke in 1:49.64.
He also won silver in the 50m backstroke and bronze in the 100m individual medley in 51.60.
Other South Africans also won medals in Baku. Michael Houlie took silver in the 50m breaststroke and Aimee Canny won bronze in the 100m breaststroke.
Matthew Caldwell and Guy Brooks reached finals there. The South African team is using the series to prepare for the World Short Course Championships.
According to IOL, Coetzé is now the favourite to win the World Cup series title.
He races the men’s 100m backstroke heats and final in Tashkent on Saturday. The world record in that event is 48.16. The series then moves to its last stop in Astana, Kazakhstan.
Source: this article is based on reporting by IOL Sport. Image: IOL Sport. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Sports desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Tiyani Mathebula writes about sport for Tzaneen Voice. Tiyani covers Bafana Bafana, the Springboks, the Proteas and the PSL, along with athletics, tennis and local club sport. Match reports and previews focus on results, team news, fixtures and what each game means for South African teams and fans.