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Pieter Coetzé leads charge as South Africa's next generation shines at national championships

Pieter Coetzé leads charge as South Africa's next generation shines at national championships
Keanan Hemmonsbey
By Keanan Hemmonsbey
15 Apr 2025
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The next generation of South African swimmers will carry the torch at the World Championships this year with the old guard away.

South Africa has had seven swimmers qualify for the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore in July and August after impressive showings in Gqeberha at the national swimming championships last week.

Pieter Coetzé was the star in a week that, for the first time in 19 years, didn’t contain one of either Tatjana Smith or Chad le Clos. Smith retired from swimming last year, after the Paris Olympic Games wherein she picked up a gold and a silver medal in the 200m and 100m breaststroke events respectively.

Meanwhile, 33-year-old Le Clos is recovering from a back injury and will only compete in the swimming pool in about October again; and while he doesn’t plan to retire soon, his peak swimming days are unfortunately behind him.

That’s a combined eight Olympic silver and gold medals missing from the Newton Park swimming pool.

But 20-year-old Coetzé, who was a finalist in the 100m and 200m backstroke events in Paris last year, brought his A game to Gqeberha with five wins — four of which were within World Championship qualifying times.

It’s not quite a changing of the guard as Coetzé dominated the national swimming championships last year as well, winning the same five events.

Coetzé has not yet been able to replicate his final local form on to the Olympic stage like Smith and Le Clos before him. He has, however, been successful on the international stage with a bronze medal in the 100m backstroke in last year’s World Championships as well as standing on each level of the podium at the Commonwealth Games.

‘Mission accomplished’

“Mission accomplished,” Coetzé said after cruising to victory in the 200m backstroke on Sunday night in a time of 1 minute 56.07 — not particularly quick for the country’s best.

“I just wanted to qualify, get it done. Obviously it would have been nice to be a bit faster… but I think I’m in a very good spot for this time of the year because I also don’t want to peak now.

“I want to go overseas and perform there, so I think this is a very good base and things are looking good.”

Coetzé also won the 100m backstroke comfortably in 52.71 seconds, which is his strongest event on the international stage. Although he was good enough to claim golds, his times weren’t at the mark the South African swimming fraternity has become accustomed to, but they were still solid considering he hadn’t raced competitively since October last year and he is building into the swimming season.

Coetzé’s other wins came in the 50m backstroke, and 50m and 100m freestyles — the 100m freestyle is the only event he won that he didn’t qualify for the World Championships in. The gifted swimmer dashed across the pool, completing two laps in 48.63 seconds — the first time he had completed the 100m freestyle in under 49 seconds.

The freestyle events aren’t a big focus in Coetzé’s training, especially not the 50m event, which he essentially does for fun. But such is his natural gift for the sport that he was good enough to clinch gold again, and will be looking to bring the same colour medal home for South Africa in the event in Singapore in three months time.

Up and down


Like Coetzé, Matthew Sates also collected five victories across the week with wins in the 200m freestyle, 100 and 200m butterfly and the 200 and 400m individual medley. Sates only secured World Championship qualification finishes in the 200m individual medley.

Sates won both medley events comfortably in Gqeberha and looks to be back on track in the swimming pool, having struggled at the Olympic Games last year, failing to make the final of any of his three events after a standout junior career.

“It’s nice going close to my best times again,” said 21-year-old Sates. “A nice relief to do it, to qualify for worlds is always nice, because it’s every swimmer’s goal to do it, and so it’s a privilege to go.”

While there were many accomplishments to savour across the week, there were a few surprise results as well.

Erin Gallagher, who reached the semi-finals of the women’s 100m butterfly in Paris last year, failed to qualify for the World Championships in the event after swimming 59.16 seconds, pipping Rebecca Meder to the finish line.

“I definitely should be under the qualifying time regardless of where I’m at in my training, but I told myself before this meet that I wasn’t going to let my time define my happiness and my worth at this gala,” Gallagher said. “I think my 50s are better at the moment than my hundreds.”

She did qualify for the World Championships in the 50m butterfly, though, touching the wall in 25.93 seconds in the heats of the final day of action to book her ticket to Singapore.

“The year after the Olympics is very much an experimental year,”  Gallagher said. “You have no idea what’s going to happen, what’s going to go down, your body is still kind of recovering from the hectic training leading up to the Games, so we just said this year we’re going to try new things, see what works, see what doesn’t work.”

Taking over


With breaststroke champion Smith not at the national championships this year, it was an opportunity for two-time Olympic finalist Kaylene Corbett to secure her first national title.

Instead it was Meder, who is relatively new to the breaststroke, who took over Smith’s crown after finishing in 2:23.61. Corbett, though, was also quick enough to qualify for the World Champs with her time of 2:24.70, despite missing the elusive gold medal.

Corbett, who is 25 years old, has said that there is a good chance she won’t stamp the ticket she secured to Singapore as she focuses on her studies, doing her honours year at the University of Pretoria this year.

“Just being at the beginning of that cycle, it’s good for me to be in a place where I’m still qualifying and still doing the times even though I’m not as rested as I would have liked to have been,” Corbett said, admitting that she was not in prime racing condition because of the academic work she had had to juggle.

Smith and Le Clos are South Africa’s greatest ever Olympians, but if this year’s national swimming championship proved anything, it’s that the country has a plethora of talent waiting to bloom and have their day in the sun. DM

2025 World Aquatics Championships A qualifying times achieved at the SA National Swimming Championships:


Pieter Coetzé: 50m, 100m, 200m backstroke, 50m freestyle

Matt Sates: 200m individual medley

Rebecca Meder: 200m individual medley, 200m breaststroke

Kaylene Corbett: 200m breaststroke

Chris Smith: 50m breaststroke

Michael Houlie: 50m breaststroke

Erin Gallagher: 50m butterfly

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