SA National Championships: Pieter Coetzee Dominates with 52.89 100 Back

Photo Courtesy: Swimming SA

SA National Championships: Pieter Coetzee Dominates with 52.89 100 Back

Pieter Coetzee confirmed his Olympic spot by going 52.89 to win the 100 backstroke at the SA National Championships Thursday.

Coetzee was well ahead of the field in both prelims and finals. The 19-year-old went 53.05 in the morning, under the Olympic A standard, then sped up at night to 52.89. His winning margin was more than a second and a half, and he put a scare into his best time of 52.78 from December.

The only drama at night on the fourth night of the meet was if South Africa could add a second A cut. Ruard van Renen went 54.22 in the morning, shy of the B standard of 54.01, then couldn’t speed up at night. Safely ensconced in second place, the University of Georgia swimmer went 54.50.

Coetzee’s was the only time close to Olympic qualification on the day at Newton Park Swimming Pool in Ggeberha.

Dune Coetzee won the women’s 400 free in 4:09.43. That time is agonizingly close to the B cut of 4:09.14.

Milla Drakopoulos captured an intriguing women’s 100 back by going 1:01.70. Four swimmers were within a second of her, with Michaela De Villiers rising from sixth in prelims to second in 1:02.40. Hannah Pearse finished third in 1:20.52, .01 up on Tayla Jonker. The A cut is 59.99, the B 1:00.29.

The men’s 400 IM, which proceeded after a scratch from Matt Sates, went to Kian Keylock, who won in 4:25.06. Matthew Caldwell won the men’s 400 free in 3:54.27, 1.1 seconds up on Kris Mihaylov. Dakota Tucker prevailed in the women’s 400 IM in 4:47.09, 6.5 seconds ahead of Marlies Ross.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use