Superstar swimmer from Pretoria wins three medals at student games in Germany

The Citizen

23-07-2025

Pretoria's Olympic swimmer, Pieter Coetzé, showed at the World University Games in Rhine-Ruhr, Germany, that he is ready to become the country's next superstar in the pool.
The 21-year-old Coetzee won three medals – two gold and one silver – in two days at the Games.
Coetzé claimed South Africa's first gold medal at the Games on Sunday with his victory in the 100m backstroke event. His winning time of 51.99 seconds in that final is a new African and World Student Record. For now, it is also the fastest time in the world.
This young swimming sensation, who is 1.97m tall, showed early on at the Games that he was on top form when he swam faster each time in the 100m event during the heats (53.34s), semi-finals (52.18s) and ultimately the record time in the final.
On Monday, Coetzé simply continued where he left off the previous day when he first won the silver medal in the 100m freestyle event, and then also won the final of the 50m backstroke to win his second gold medal.
In the 100m freestyle Coetzé finished in a time of 48.12s, only 11 hundredths of a second behind the winner, MC King of America (48.01s). His winning time in the 50m backstroke was 24.49s.
Coetzé is a specialist backstroke swimmer, but he makes no secret of the fact that he enjoys swimming the freestyle when the opportunity arises.
He will, unfortunately, not compete in the 200m backstroke as he will also be competing in the World Championships in Singapore, which start this coming weekend.
The time difference between Germany and Singapore is six hours. According to TuksSwimming head coach, Rocco Meiring, Coetzé must have sufficient time to acclimatise. Therefore, he will miss out on competing in the 200 m backstroke, which is one of the last items on the swimming program at the Student Games.
Coetzé is often referred to as a true competitor. Someone who likes to test himself against the best.
'A lot of times when I train, it feels like I'm just an average swimmer. When I race, something happens. I'm different when competing than when training. I like competition and the pressure that comes with it,' he recently explained his onslaught during competitions.
In an interview earlier this year Coetzé was asked about his preferences as a backstroke swimmer and what distance in the pool is his favourite.
'You could say the 200m backstroke is my best event, but I will always compete in the 100 and 50 meters. Remember, I come from a sprint background,' was his reply.
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