Commonwealth Games, Day Three Finals: Pieter Coetze Takes Games Record in 200 Back
Pieter Coetze has cemented himself as one of the world’s top male backstrokers of this Olympic cycle. He added another accolade to the cabinet on Sunday.
The South African went 1:54.22 to win the final of the men’s 200 back at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
England took the other two medals, with Oliver Morgan second in 1:56.44 and Luke Greenbank third in 1:56.58.
The swim takes down the aged record of 1:55.58 set in 2010 by James Goddard of England at the Delhi edition of the Games.
Coetze’s swim is the second fastest int eh world this year, a tenth behind Apostolos Siskos’ 1:54.12.
Coetze continues his ascent into the elite echelons of backstroke. He’s got gold in the 50 back at this meet after gold in the 100, silver in the 50 and bronze in the 200 back at this meet four years ago. He’s the reigning World Championships gold medalist in the 100 back and has finished second and third in the last two Worlds at this distance. Now the 2022 World Junior Championship in this discipline can add another accolade to the pile.
Greenbank led the way in a tepid prelims in the morning at 1:58.05. Four others coasted home in 1:58s, with Coetze second in 1:58.48. The event skipped semifinals.
In the final, Coetze was first at every wall. Morgan was second at 100 meters, then slipped behind Greenbank at the 150. Morgan came home in 29.81 to his countryman’s 30..52 to nab better medal.
It’s the third medal of these Games already or Morgan. The 28-year-old Greenbank has remarkably won his first individual Commonwealth medal in his third participation in the meet, with medley relay gold in 2022 and silver in 2018.
Fourth place went to Se-Bom Lee of Australia, who’ll rue a slow opening 100 that saw him seventh at the midway point. He and Coetze were the only swimmers to be sub-30 on both the third and fourth 50s, his final time a 1:56.78. He made up a full second on Greenbank in the final 50, but two tenths remained. Countryman Henry Allan was fifth in 1:57.04.
Canada’s Benjamin Loewen was sixth in 1:58.48. It was a distance back to England’s Jack Skerry in seventh, and Isaac Thompson of Jersey was eighth.
