Pretoria’s Pieter Coetzé became the first swimmer to claim a World Aquatics Championships qualifying time at the SA National Swimming Championships, which got underway in The Eastern Cape on Wednesday.

The 20-year-old dipped under the 100m backstroke qualifying mark in the morning heat in 53.03 seconds and then went even quicker in the final, taking the win ahead of Ruard van Renen in a time of 52.71 seconds.

Coetzé, who reached both the Olympic 100m and 200m backstroke finals in Paris last year, wasn’t too sure what to expect after not racing since October.

“I was a scared of being a bit rusty, and I’m very happy with that for now. This morning felt very smooth, so I knew I was probably going to dip under 53 seconds. It was just a question of how far I could go under 53. It would have been nicer to go even faster, but compared to what I was thinking might happen after so many months of not racing, this is amazing and I’ll take it,” he said after the final.

Coetzé added that Wednesday’s performance had boosted his confidence ahead of turning his attention to the 50 and 200m backstroke as well as the 50 and 100m freestyle.

The men’s 100m breaststroke final was billed as a showdown between fellow World Short Course Championship finalists Michael Houlie and Chris Smith. It was the 19-year-old Smith who prevailed, taking the title in 1:01.57 with Houlie second in 1:01.79 and Matthew Randle a close third in 1:01.82. Smith was based in Centurion until last season, but this year he is affiliated with the University of Virginia in America,

The women’s 200m freestyle final witnessed a massive battle between defending champion Aimee Canny, Duné Coetzee and Meder over the closing metres. It was ultimately the former TuksSwimming star, Dune Coetzee, currently studying in America, who took the title in a time of 1:59.09 with Meder second in 1:59.38 and Canny third in 1:59.48.

“I always love, love racing with all of them. I’ve been racing with Aimee and Becky since I was super little, so it’s always nice having them there with me. I tried to just take it out a little bit calmer in the first half of the race and then let go in the last little bit. It was great, such a fun race, and I’m so close to a best time, so I’m really happy with that,” a delighted Coetzee remarked.

Several Para-swimmers delivered standout performances, breaking senior national records in the morning heats and then surpassing those times again in the evening finals. Another former Pretoria resident, Kat Swanepoel, impressed with a new SB4 50m breaststroke record of 1:07.54, followed by another national mark of 1:53.91 in the S5 100m backstroke final.

Swimming action continued at the Newton Park Swimming Pool on Thursday morning and concludes on Sunday.

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