Pieter Coetze on the podium at the Commonwealth Games. Picture: Getty Images
Teenage swimmers delivered in style on Saturday night, earning South Africa’s first medals on day two of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Lara van Niekerk opened the national squad’s account, winning gold in the women’s 50m breaststroke final.
The 19-year-old prospect touched the wall in 29.73, slicing 0.07 off the Commonwealth Games record she had set in the semifinals the night before.
Further back, Olympic 200m breastroke champion Tatjana Schoenmaker took fourth place in the sprint final in 30.41, and Kaylene Corbett finished sixth in 31.10.
ALSO READ: Lara van Niekerk wins first gold for Team SA at Commonwealth Games
Later in the evening session, 18-year-old Pieter Coetze also lived up to the hype, securing gold in the men’s 100m backstroke final in 53.78.
He held off a challenge from England’s Brodie Williams, who grabbed the silver medal in 53.91.
In other events in the pool, Matthew Sates finished fourth in the men’s 400m individual medley in 4:16.61 after taking sixth place in the 200m freestyle final in 1:47.75.
The SA women’s 4x100m freestyle relay team ended fourth in the final in 3:40.31 and the men’s 4x100m freestyle quartet were sixth in 3:23.41.
Elsewhere, in the men’s rugby sevens competition, the Blitzboks beat Scotland 34-0 to finish top of their pool, and they went on to defeat Canada 33-0 in their quarter-final.
The national team will face Australia in the semifinals on Sunday.
ALSO READ: Blitzboks power into Commonwealth Games semifinals
While the Blitzboks were looking good for a medal, however, the SA side continued to struggle in the women’s rugby sevens tournament.
They lost 33-12 to Scotland in their final pool match and were handed a 36-0 defeat by England in their first playoff for positions 5-8.
In other team sports, the national men’s hockey side played to a 2-2 draw against Pakistan, sharing the points in their opening fixture.
The SA women’s cricket team lost by 13 runs against New Zealand in their first match of the T20 tournament, while the Proteas netball team fell in a 68-49 defeat to Jamaica in their opening game.
In para sports, Tiaan Bosch finished eighth in the men’s T53-54 wheelchair marathon in 2:05:57, while Alani Ferreira (30.89) and Cornelle Leach (31.34) were seventh and eighth respectively in the women’s 50m freestyle S13 final.
After two days of competition, Team SA were lying seventh in the overall standings with two gold medals.