The 20-year-old swimming sensation from Pretoria, Pieter Coetzé, has promised that he will be back with a bang, after he failed to win a medal during the Olympic Games earlier this year.
Then he did it properly, appearing on the podium six times during this past weekend’s World Cup events, which were first held in Shanghai, China and then in Incheon, Korea.
Out of a possible six gold medals in the three backstroke events (50m, 100m and 200m), Coetzé won five, while in Shanghai he finished a twentieth of a second behind Isaac Cooper of Australia in the 50m event to finally take the silver medal.
🇿🇦 Pieter Coetze steals the win in the men’s 50m backstroke with an amazing finish at the #SWC2024 pic.twitter.com/DeyDx8aaB7
— World Aquatics (@WorldAquatics) October 26, 2024
A few days later, however, he took the spoils by surprisingly beating Cooper – a specialist in the 50m event – in Incheon, Korea.
To top it all off, Coetzé set a new African record in China in the 100m backstroke event with his winning time of 49.35s.
It was the first time he has dipped under 50 seconds in the 100m event in a 25-metre pool and for now, his time is the fastest in the world this year. In Korea he did it again with his winning time of 49.93s.
Coetzé’s time in the 200m backstroke in Shanghai (1:49.12) is also the fastest in the world this year.
His participation in the World Cup events was the first time Coetzé competed since the Paris Olympic Games, where he also set an African record in the 200-metre backstroke finals. As things stand, Coetzé now holds four of the six African backstroke records in both the 25-metre and 50-metre pool.
It proves why his coach at TuksSwimming, Rocco Meiring, calls the young swimmer “Cool Hand Luke”. According to him, Coetzé handles pressure like it is nobody’s business.
🚨 𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐀𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐃 🚨
Pieter Coetze upsets Isaac Cooper to win the Men’s 50m Backstroke in 22.80 🇿🇦🏊♂️#SWC2024 pic.twitter.com/zlLkooB35f
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) October 25, 2024
When listening to Coetzé talk about swimming, it becomes clear that there is a special bond between him and Meiring.
“There is no one better than him. I don’t think there is a swimmer in South Africa who doesn’t know who Rocco is,” he said during a recent interview.
Meiring, however, is not one to take credit for his swimmer’s achievements. To him, being a coach is being a servant leader.
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