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Coetze was third fastest in the penultimate round of the 100m backstroke.
Pieter Coetze will compete in the 100m backstroke final in Singapore on Wednesday. Picture: Roger Sedres/Gallo Images
Versatile swimmer Pieter Coetze looks set to challenge for South Africa’s first medal at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore after qualifying for the 100m backstroke final on Monday.
Coetze was third fastest in the semifinals, touching the wall in 52.29 seconds.
Only Hubert Kos of Hungary (52.21) and Kliment Kolesnikov of Russia (52.26) went quicker.
Medal attempt
“I know what I need to do (in the final), so I’ll just go and look at the video and see where I can work on things and come back refreshed tomorrow,” Coetze, the Commonwealth Games champion, said afterwards.
The 21-year-old South African, who won gold at the World Student Games in Germany earlier this month in an African record of 51.99, will return to the pool for the 100m backstroke final on Tuesday (1.56pm SA time).
After two days of the swimming gala at the global showpiece, Coetze was the only SA swimmer to have progressed beyond the semifinals.
Day one
On Sunday’s opening day of the swimming competition, Rebecca Meder and Erin Gallagher had both made it safely through the heats of their events but did not reach the medal contests.
Meder was 10th overall in the women’s 200m individual medley semifinals, completing the four-length race in 2:11.05 and missing out on a spot in the final by 0.54.
Gallagher ended 13th overall in the women’s 100m butterfly semifinals in 57.48.
