Pieter Coetze not only won gold in the 50m backstroke tonight, but he also achieved a unique hat-trick at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
Coetze’s winning time of 24.18s is just 0.01s slower than the African record he set at the World Championships in Singapore last year. The time, however, is a Commonwealth Games record. The Tuks swimmer has improved the record every time he has competed. In the heats, his time was 24.45s and in the semis, 24.29s.
It was a good evening for South Africa’s swimmers. Ruard van Renen was third in the 50m backstroke. Erin Gallagher won silver in the 50m butterfly. This means that South Africa has won 6 medals (2 gold, 1 silver, and 3 bronze) after 2 days.
“This is amazing. I had some challenges in my training in the buildup to the Games. At times, it has been tough. I did not know what would happen at the Games. It can be quite nerve-wracking. So this medal means a lot to me,” said Coetze.
“What made it more special was that I got to stand on the podium with Ruard. I never sang the national anthem with another teammate.”
As to winning bronze last night in the 4x100m freestyle relay, Coetze said, “Winning a medal means a lot to us. We did it for Chad (Le Clos). We are so proud of him.”
Le Clos has now won 19 medals at the Games. It is the most by any athlete.
“Super stoked” is the word Van Renen used to describe how it felt to win his second bronze medal at the Games.
“Being on the same podium as Pieter is great. We spoke about it the other day. It is the first time since Chad le Clos and Ryan Coetzee that we had two South Africans on the same podium.”
Van Renen admitted that his goal was to win.
“That is the mindset of every swimmer. Pieter was just the quickest on the day. I think my last two strokes cost me the silver.”
England’s Oliver Morgan finished second in the 50m backstroke in a time of 24.48s. Van Renen’s time was 24.51s.
Australia’s Alex Perkins won the 50m butterfly in 25.37s. Gallagher swam 25.57s. Hazel Ouwehand (New Zealand) was third in 25.76s.”Swimming 50 metres is all about keeping your head down to get to the wall as fast as possible. I am happy to be in any medal position. I will take second place. What excites me is that I missed out by just 0.02 seconds on setting a new personal best,” said the Tuks swimmer.
Australia’s Sam Williamson caused an upset, beating the world record-holder and two-time Olympian gold medallist, Adam Ramsay-Peaty, in the 100m breaststroke. Williamson’s winning time was 59.17s. Filip Nowacki (Jersey) was second in 59.34s and Ramsay-Peaty third in 59.65s. South Africa’s Michael Houlie finished seventh (1:00.35) and Chris Smith eighth (1:00.79).
Three South Africans qualified to swim the women’s 100m breaststroke final tomorrow night. Angharad Evans (Scotland) was the finest in the semis, swimming 1:05.34. Aimy Canny (South Africa) was the second fastest, 1:06.04. Kaylene Corbett (South Africa) was the fifth fastest (1:07.31), and Rebecca Meder (South Africa) was the seventh fastest (1:07.53)
In the 200m freestyle heats, none of the Tuks women’s swimmers qualified for the finals. Dune Coetzee was the 11th fastest with a time of 2:00.90 in the heats. Georgia Nel was 15th with a time of 2:02.76, and Hannah Robertson was 16th with a time of 2:03.31.
