Pieter Coetzé adds second silver to gold as he wraps up World Aquatics Champs in style

Pieter Coetzé equalled Roland Schoeman’s record for claiming three medals at a long-course world championship, wrapping up his World Aquatics Championships campaign in Singapore with a surprise 50m silver on Sunday, to go with his earlier 100m gold and 200m silver.

The achievement was made more remarkable by the fact that Coetzé does not specifically train for the 50m race. The 21-year-old became the only man to reach the podium in all three backstroke events at the championships, heralding his arrival as an Olympic medal hopeful in multiple events.

His performances will only fan expectations of a return to glory for South African swimmers at the LA Games — something that had seemed unlikely in the build-up to the showpiece.

Coetzé lined up for the 50m final as the third-fastest qualifier behind two Russians — world record-holder Kliment Kolesnikov and Pavel Samusenko — after setting an African record in Saturday’s semi-final. He went even quicker in the final, powering across the pool in another continental record time of 24.17 seconds to share the silver with Samusenko, who touched in exactly the same time. Kolesnikov took gold in a championship record of 23.68 seconds.

“I don’t think I’ve ever tied in a final at this level, so it’s pretty cool,” said a thrilled Coetzé afterwards.

“I’m very happy. I don’t really train for the 50, I train for the 200, so to be able to go down so far and win a medal in the 50 is amazing,” he added.

“Kliment went very fast. That’s an extremely fast time, so it was an honour to be in that race and hopefully I can push myself and also get below 24 seconds.”

With his remarkable performances in Singapore, Coetzé equalled former Olympic champion Schoeman’s record from 2005. What is also impressive is that he achieved big personal bests and continental records in each of his events.

“It’s amazing. It’s something I always dreamed of,” said the Pretoria star.

“I can see myself making strides towards being the swimmer I always knew I could be, so it’s nice to see that I’m improving and getting there slowly. But I’ve always believed it, and a part of me had always known, so now to see it in front of me is amazing. I’m very proud and blessed.”

Earlier in the day, the South African quartet of Olivia Nel, Rebecca Meder, Erin Gallagher and Aimee Canny blazed to a new national and continental record of 3:59.47 in the 4x100m medley relay, but just missed out on the final by one place.

Meanwhile, Coetzé’s silver on the final day of the championships meant South Africa finished in 11th place on the swimming medals table in Singapore, which was topped by the United States.