Latest news with #WorldStudentGames
IOL News
2 days ago
- Sport
- IOL News
Coetzé claims shock gold in 100m backstroke with record-breaking finish
Pieter Coetzé won the men's 100m backstroke final at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore with a new African record time of 51.85 seconds on Tuesday. Photo: Backpagepix The 21-year-old Tuks student clocked a blistering 51.85 seconds — dipping under 52 seconds for the second time in just two weeks — to out-touch Olympic champion Thomas Ceccon of Italy, who took silver in 51.90, and France's Yohann Ndoye-Brouard, who claimed bronze in 51.95. Pieter Coetzé stormed to a surprise gold medal in the men's 100m backstroke final at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore on Monday, breaking his own South African and African record for the third time in rapid succession. Coetzé had arrived in Singapore carrying the world lead, courtesy of his 51.99 performance at the World Student Games in Germany last week — a swim that also set African and World Student Games records, and made him only the eighth man in history to break the 52-second barrier in the event. Despite this form, the South African was not seen as a favourite for the title in a stacked final field. He had qualified third-fastest (52.29) behind Hungary's Hubert Kós (52.21) and Russia's Kliment Kolesnikov, who posted a stunning 51.26 in the semis. In the final, the leading swimmers were level with 25 metres to go, before Coetzé unleashed a devastating late surge, kicking strongly in the final 10 metres to touch first in a remarkably close finish, with all three medallists under 52 seconds. Meanwhile, fellow South African Chris Smith booked his place in the men's 50m breaststroke final with a strong swim in the semi-finals. He finished second in his heat in a time of 26.77 seconds, behind Koen de Groot of the Netherlands. The final is scheduled for Wednesday.
The Citizen
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Citizen
First medal for Team SA: Pieter Coetze wins gold at World Aquatics Champs
Coetze broke his own African record in the 100m backstroke. Pieter Coetze, seen here at a World Cup gala, achieved a podium dplace at the World Championships in Singapore. Picture: Roslan Rahman/AFP Pieter Coetze lit up the pool on Tuesday, storming to victory in the men's 100m backstroke final and bagging the SA team's first medal at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore. Coetze triumphed in 51.85 seconds, winning his first world senior title. He also sliced 0.14 off his own African record of 51.99 which he had set when he won gold at the World Student Games in Germany earlier this month. He won a tight battle for the medals, edging out Olympic champion Thomas Ceccon of Italy who grabbed silver in 51.90 and Yohann Ndoye Brouard of France who settled for bronze in 51.92. Smith qualifies for final Meanwhile, 19-year-old South African prospect Chris Smith booked his place in the men's 100m breaststroke final. Smith, the world junior record holder in the short course 50m breaststroke, was fifth fastest overall in the semifinals of the sprint event in 26.77 seconds. He will return to the pool on Wednesday (2.03pm SA time) for the medal contest.
The Citizen
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Citizen
Pieter Coetze targets SA team's first medal at World Aquatics Champs
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.
TimesLIVE
3 days ago
- Sport
- TimesLIVE
Pieter Coetzé earns podium seeding after tight 100m backstroke semifinals
Pieter Coetzé bagged the third seeding position in Tuesday's 100m backstroke final at the world championships in Singapore after a pair of hard-fought semifinals on Monday night. The South African, who set a 51.99 world lead at the World Student Games in Germany just more than a week ago, touched second in the second heat in 52.29sec, behind Hungarian Hubert Kos, the Olympic champion in the 200m backstroke, in 52.21. Russian Kliment Kolesnikov won the first semifinal in 52.26, just nine-hundredths of a second ahead of the Olympic champion in this event, Italy's Thomas Ceccon, also owner of the 51.60 world record who kept enough in reserve to clinch bronze in the 50m butterfly half an hour later. Just 0.36sec — or the blink of an eye — separated the eight fastest swimmers, who included Oliver Morgan of Britain (52.41), Apostolos Chrisou of Greece (52.44), Frenchman Yohann Ndoye-Brouard (52.47) and Russia's Miron Lifintsev (52.57). It's probably the greatest depth of competition a South African swimmer has ever faced.
TimesLIVE
4 days ago
- Sport
- TimesLIVE
World No.1 Pieter Coetzé cruises into 100m backstroke semifinals
Pieter Coetzé cruised through the 100m backstroke heats at the world championships in Singapore on Monday morning, but he'll be looking to step it up in the evening semifinals. Coetzé, who clocked a 51.99sec world lead at the World Student Games in Berlin nine days earlier, finished third in his heat in 52.80, a time that ranked him seventh overall. The South African, fifth in this event at the Paris Olympics last year, touched behind Games 200m backstroke champion Hubert Kos (52.60) and Christian Bacico of Italy (52.72). Frenchman Yohann Ndoye-Brouard, an Olympic relay bronze medallist, set the pace in 52.30, ahead of backstroke's who's who, including Greece's Olympic 200m backstroke silver medallist Apostolos Christou, the Russian duo of Kliment Koleshnikov (52.57) and Miron Lifintsev (52.77), Olympic 100m king Thomas Ceccon of Italy (53.65) and China's Olympic 100m silver medallist Jiayu Xu (53.73). The top 16 will battle it out for eight spots in Tuesday night's final. In other South African action, Rebecca Meder matched her 1min 07.50sec personal best as she ended ninth in her heat. Meder, a semifinalist in the 200m individual medley on Sunday, will compete again in the 200m breaststroke on Thursday morning. Matthew Sates, who has been training in Switzerland, faded over the second half of his 200m freestyle heat to end ninth in 1:48.45, well outside his 1:45.91 personal best. Midmar Mile champion Catherine van Rensburg, who earlier in the championships finished 25th in the 10km open-water race and 35th in the 5km, clocked 16.59.73, nearly 20 seconds slower than her best.
