{"id":18952,"date":"2025-07-29T13:50:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T11:50:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/?p=18952"},"modified":"2026-03-12T10:09:32","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T08:09:32","slug":"world-aquatics-champs-coetze-eyes-first-podium-finish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/world-aquatics-champs-coetze-eyes-first-podium-finish\/","title":{"rendered":"World Aquatics Champs: Coetze Eyes South Africa\u2019s First Podium Finish in Singapore"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>South African swimming sensation Pieter Coetze is on the verge of making history at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore. He powered his way into the men\u2019s 100m backstroke final. His impressive performance in the semifinals on Monday saw him clock 52.29 seconds. This was the third fastest overall, raising hopes of securing South Africa\u2019s first medal at the tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-in-medal-contention\">In Medal Contention<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Only Hungary\u2019s Hubert Kos (52.21) and Russia\u2019s Kliment Kolesnikov (52.26) posted quicker times than the 21-year-old Coetze. He now finds himself in a strong position ahead of Tuesday\u2019s final, scheduled for 1:56pm South African time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI know what I need to do in the final,\u201d said Coetze, the reigning Commonwealth Games champion. \u201cI\u2019ll go back, study the race footage, see where I can make improvements, and come back stronger tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Earlier this month, Coetze made headlines by winning gold at the World Student Games in Germany. He set a new African record of 51.99 seconds in the process. His current form makes him a serious contender for a podium finish in Singapore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"gaute-466718728\" class=\"gaute-inbetween-content\" style=\"margin-top: 30px;margin-bottom: 30px;margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;text-align: center;\"><div class=\"gaute-adlabel\">Advertisement<\/div><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1852772760112594\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1852772760112594\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"1819787043\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-lone-finalist-for-team-sa\">Lone Finalist for Team SA<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>After two days of intense competition at the championships, Coetze remains the only South African swimmer to advance past the semifinals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On Sunday\u2019s opening day, both Rebecca Meder and Erin Gallagher progressed through their heats but fell short in the semis. Meder placed 10th in the women\u2019s 200m individual medley with a time of 2:11.05. She was just 0.54 seconds shy of the final eight. Gallagher finished 13th in the women\u2019s 100m butterfly semifinal in 57.48 seconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-final-hopes\">Final Hopes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>With the country yet to secure a medal at this year\u2019s global showcase, all eyes will be on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.citizen.co.za\/sport\/pieter-coetze-targets-medal-world-aquatics-champs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Coetze<\/a> in Tuesday\u2019s final. A podium finish would not only boost South Africa\u2019s medal tally but also mark a significant moment in Coetze\u2019s already promising career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Related article: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/comrades-2025-emotional-gerda-steyn-clinches-her-fourth-victory\/\">Comrades 2025: Emotional Gerda Steyn Clinches Her Fourth Victory<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>South African swimming sensation Pieter Coetze is on the verge of making history at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore. He powered his way into the men\u2019s 100m backstroke final. His impressive performance in the semifinals on Monday saw him clock 52.29 seconds. This was the third fastest overall, raising hopes of securing South Africa\u2019s<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":18955,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_focus_keyword":"","rank_math_title":"","rank_math_description":"South African swimming sensation Pieter Coetze is on the verge of making history at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore. He powered his way into the...","footnotes":""},"categories":[56,64],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-18952","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"category-sports-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18952"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18969,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18952\/revisions\/18969"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gauteng.net\/whats-on-g\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}