Coetzé is only the second SA swimmer to win three gold medals at World Champs
Pretoria's new swimming superstar, Pieter Coetzé, has thoroughly proven over the past two weeks that the expectations that have been held about him since his teenage years were not unreasonable and that he is destined to become one of the best swimmers the country has ever produced.
Pretoria’s newest swimming sensation, Pieter Coetzé, will probably have to explain at airports why his luggage is heavier when he returns to South Africa from the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.
The reason? He has a lot more baggage in the form of precious metals to bring home. This comes after Coetzé added three medals to his collection following his stellar performance in Singapore.
These achievements follow just a few days after he also won three medals – two gold and one silver – at the World University Games in Rhine-Ruhr, Germany the previous week.
🚨 NEW AFRICAN RECORD ALERT! 🚨
Pieter Coetzé powers to 2nd place in the men’s 200m backstroke final with a blistering 1:53.36 a brand new African Record! ⚡
SILVER MEDAL SECURED! 🥈#TeamSA #ForMyCountry pic.twitter.com/Ps4Z7o6Fp8
— Team South Africa (@OfficialTeamRSA) August 1, 2025
Coetzé will be able to testify that good things happen in threes after winning a silver medal in the 50m backstroke at the World Championships in Singapore on Sunday.
With this achievement, the Tuks psychology student is only the second South African swimmer to win three medals at a World Championships. He is the 100m backstroke champion and was second in the 200m backstroke. He is the only man to reach the podium for all three backstroke events at these championships.
Roland Schoeman won the 50m freestyle and breaststroke events at the 2005 World Championships in Montreal and was second in the 100m freestyle.
Photo: World Aquatics
But that’s not where Coetzé’s story ends with three. In the space of seven days, he improved during the World Championships the African record in the 50m backstroke (24.17s), 100m backstroke (51.85s) and the 200m backstroke (1:53.36).
He is currently the only swimmer in Africa to hold all three records in the same event at the same time. Actually, the only backstroke record that he has not yet bettered is the 200-metre short course event.
On Sunday Coetzé lined up for the 50m final as the third fastest qualifier behind two Russians – world record-holder Kliment Kolesnikov and Pavel Samusenko. On Saturday, during the semifinal, he set an African record. He went even quicker in the final, powering across the pool in another continental record time of 24.17 seconds to share the silver with Samusenko, who touched in precisely the same time, with Kolesnikov taking the gold in a championship record of 23.68 seconds.
Kolesnikov sets a new Championship Record with Coetze taking 𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐕𝐄𝐑 in a dead heat 🥈🔥
📺 Stream #AQUASingapore25 on DStv: https://t.co/rM90YyQxaw pic.twitter.com/qsgpEKgXn8
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) August 3, 2025
“I don’t think I’ve ever tied in a final at this level, so it’s pretty cool. I’m thrilled. I don’t really train for the 50, I train for the 200, so to be able to go down so far and win a medal in the 50 is amazing,” said a thrilled Coetzé afterwards during a poolside interview.
On being only the second South African swimmer to win three medals at a World Championships, Coetzé was equally delighted.
“It’s amazing. It’s something I always dreamed of. I can see myself making strides towards becoming the swimmer I always knew I could be,” he remarked.
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