Pieter Coetzé and Lara van Niekerk cruised through the heats of their sprint races at the world championships in Doha on Saturday morning, easily booking their berths in the evening semifinals.
Both were ranked fourth overall, Coetzé in the men’s 50m backstroke and Van Niekerk in the women’s 50m breaststroke.
Coetzé, fresh from winning bronze in the 200m backstroke on Friday night, won his heat in 24.75, pushing versatile American speedster Michael Andrew into second place.
But three rivals in other heats went quicker. Ksawery Masiuk of Poland won the last race of the morning in 24.58, ahead of new 100m gold medallist Hunter Armstrong of the US in 24.66.
New 200m backstroke world champion Hugo Gonzalez of Spain won the third heat in 24.72, with Australian Isaac Cooper also recording a time of 24.75 alongside Coetzé, who has a best of 24.36.
Van Niekerk, the 50m breaststroke bronze medallist in 2022 and fourth last year, touched in 30.28 to finish second in her heat behind Qianting Tang of China.
Tang, who clocked 29.93, and former world 100m breaststroke champion Benedetta Pilato of Italy, the fastest in 29.93, were the only two to dip under 30 seconds.
However, defending champion Ruta Meilutyte of Lithuania, who failed to defend her 100m crown earlier this week, was third quickest in 30.05.
Van Niekerk, who owns the 29.72 South African record, will almost certainly need to break 30 seconds to have a chance of making the podium.
Both Erin Gallagher and Emma Chelius finished outside the top-16 in the 50m freestyle heats to miss the semifinals of this event.
Gallagher went 25.37 to rank 17th while Chelius placed 23rd with an effort of 25.50.
Swimming
Coetzé, Van Niekerk power their way to sprint semifinals at world champs
Image: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Pieter Coetzé and Lara van Niekerk cruised through the heats of their sprint races at the world championships in Doha on Saturday morning, easily booking their berths in the evening semifinals.
Both were ranked fourth overall, Coetzé in the men’s 50m backstroke and Van Niekerk in the women’s 50m breaststroke.
Coetzé, fresh from winning bronze in the 200m backstroke on Friday night, won his heat in 24.75, pushing versatile American speedster Michael Andrew into second place.
But three rivals in other heats went quicker. Ksawery Masiuk of Poland won the last race of the morning in 24.58, ahead of new 100m gold medallist Hunter Armstrong of the US in 24.66.
New 200m backstroke world champion Hugo Gonzalez of Spain won the third heat in 24.72, with Australian Isaac Cooper also recording a time of 24.75 alongside Coetzé, who has a best of 24.36.
Van Niekerk, the 50m breaststroke bronze medallist in 2022 and fourth last year, touched in 30.28 to finish second in her heat behind Qianting Tang of China.
Tang, who clocked 29.93, and former world 100m breaststroke champion Benedetta Pilato of Italy, the fastest in 29.93, were the only two to dip under 30 seconds.
However, defending champion Ruta Meilutyte of Lithuania, who failed to defend her 100m crown earlier this week, was third quickest in 30.05.
Van Niekerk, who owns the 29.72 South African record, will almost certainly need to break 30 seconds to have a chance of making the podium.
Both Erin Gallagher and Emma Chelius finished outside the top-16 in the 50m freestyle heats to miss the semifinals of this event.
Gallagher went 25.37 to rank 17th while Chelius placed 23rd with an effort of 25.50.
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