Collecting medals, preferable when competing internationally, seems to be a hobby for the 18-year-old Pieter Coetzé.

This young Pretoria schoolboy is rightly regarded as the most promising emerging swimming star in South Africa. There were expectations that he could make his big breakthrough at the World Championships, which were hosted in Hungary last week.

Unfortunately, he had to withdraw from the national swimming team that participated in the World Championships in Budapest last week after having tested positive for Covid. Despite this disappointment, he will now devote all his attention to preparation for the Commonwealth Games.

But the results of the recent Mare Nostrum Swim Series in Europe are proven enough that he is making inroads as a world-class swimmer. The Tuks swimmer won five gold, two silver, and three bronze medals in the backstroke events. His performance is impressive because it was only the third time the 18-year-old competed internationally against senior swimmers.

Last year during the FINA World Cup in Doha was his first. He surprised many by winning all three backstroke events (50m, 100m and 200m). Then he made history by competing at the Tokyo Olympic Games, being only 17. Coetzé is the youngest male South African swimmer to compete at the Olympics.

For now, Coetzé is not fazed, being one of the youngest competing internationally. Only one thing matters and that is winning.

“I won’t lie. At first, I was nervous when I started to compete against older swimmers internationally. But things changed. I still respect my opponents. It is an honour to line up to swim against the best. The difference now is that I think about how I will win when I step onto the starting blocks. It does not matter who is also lining up next to me,” Coetzé explained.

With such an attitude, it should be no surprise that Coetzé managed to beat the former Olympic gold medallist, Michael Anderson (USA), in the 50m-backstroke in the Mare Nostrum series. He also outswam Britain’s Luke Greenbank over 200 metres. Greenbank has medalled at the Olympic Games and World Championships.

The Tuks swimmer rates his 50m-backstroke duel with Anderson in Canet-en-Roussillon as his best performance.

“I had a good start, but still not perfect. Once I got going, there was no stopping me. I got complimented by a few coaches who watched me compete for my efficiency ‘swimming above water’. They reckon I might be one of the fastest in the world. The one thing I need to definitely work on is improving my technique doing turns. If I do, I will definitely be able to swim faster times,” he remarked.

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