{"id":618685,"date":"2025-07-29T05:23:06","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T12:23:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=618685"},"modified":"2025-07-29T09:35:27","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T16:35:27","slug":"world-championships-day-three-finals-pieter-coetze-maintains-summer-surge-for-gold-in-100-backstroke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/world-championships-day-three-finals-pieter-coetze-maintains-summer-surge-for-gold-in-100-backstroke\/","title":{"rendered":"World Championships, Day Three Finals: Pieter Coetze Maintains Summer Surge for Gold in 100 Backstroke"},"content":{"rendered":"

World Championships, Day Three Finals: Pieter Coetze Maintains Summer Surge for Gold in 100 Backstroke<\/strong><\/p>\n

A little more than a week ago, South Africa’s Pieter Coetze<\/strong> enjoyed a breakthrough in the 100-meter backstroke, becoming the eighth man in history to break the 52-second barrier en route to gold at the World University Games in Berlin. It turns out that was just an appetizer for the 21-year-old.<\/p>\n

In a blanket finish, Coetze walked away from the World Championships on Tuesday night with a gold medal in the 100 backstroke. Fighting off charges from reigning Olympic champion Thomas Ceccon<\/strong> of Italy and Frenchman Yohann Ndoye-Brouard<\/strong>, Coetze surged to the top of the podium with a personal-best time and African record of 51.85. That effort was enough to clip Ceccon, who touched in 51.90 and Ndoye-Brouard, who went 51.92. Hungarian Hubert Kos<\/strong> was fourth in 52.20.<\/p>\n

Coetze was superb at the World University Games, where he won gold medals in the 50 backstroke and 100 backstroke, and added a silver medal in the 100 freestyle. The question was whether he could maintain his form during the transition from Berlin to Southeast Asia. Well, that answer has been suplied, as Coetze packaged a perfect race to deliver the highlight of his burgeoning career.<\/p>\n