In sport, numbers sometimes tell a better story than words—look at Pieter Coetze’s heroics in the recently concluded World Cup Swimming series.
Simply saying the Tuks swimmer was the men’s overall winner sounds impressive, but it doesn’t tell the whole story.
There is good reason why Coetze, in an interview with World Aquatics in Kazakhstan on Saturday, remarked after his last race: “If I compare it to other races, it’s probably the hardest I’ve had to work ever in the 50m backstroke. So, no, I’ll cherish this one forever, and I’ll always remember this.”
The statistics certainly bear out Coetze’s statement. Between October 1 and October 17, the Tuks swimmer competed in 27 backstroke races (50m, 100m, and 200m). He reached nine finals, won eight, and tied for second in one. In Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, Coetze won all three backstroke events. He set a world record in the 50m backstroke and twice improved the African record in the 100m backstroke.
Coetze is only the fifth South African male swimmer to win the overall Swimming World Cup series. Ryk Neethling, Chad le Clos, Cameron van der Burgh, and Matthew Sates have done so as well. Notably, Van der Burgh was also a Tuks swimmer when he achieved this.
The men’s overall race was tough to call, as it came down to the final race between Coetze and Russian Egor Kornvev in the 50m backstroke. Kornev’s Triple Crown win earlier in the 50m Butterfly at 21.82 meant that whoever won the final race would become the overall winner and earn the $100,000 (R1.6 million) top prize.
“I tried not to think about it coming into the 50m backstroke,” Coetze said. “I just did it like any other race. I had some bicep pain in the warm-up, so that stressed me out a bit. But I tried to switch my mind off and focus on the race, and got the race done, and that led to winning the World Cup,” Coetze said in an interview with World Aquatics.
The 50m backstroke final was an absolute thriller. After the first 25 meters, the two swimmers were separated by a mere 0.07s. With 15 meters to go, it looked as though the Russian might beat Coetze. But then again, the Tuks swimmer doesn’t know the meaning of giving up. Coetze won in 22.36s. Kornev’s earlier heroics caught up with him, and he finished third (22.81s). Russia’s Pavel Samusenko was second in 22.49s.
As things stand, the Tuks swimmer is the fastest in the world in all three backstroke events (25m pool). His 22.09s 50m is a world record, while his 48.21s 100m backstroke is an African record.
What impressed about Coetze’s 200m backstroke performances was how consistently he got faster. In Azerbaijan, he won with a time of 1:49.64. In Uzbekistan, it was 1:49.32, and in Kazakhstan, 1:48.08.
