Pieter Coetzé delivers Olympic qualifying time in morning heats

Pieter Coetzé delivered the only Olympic qualifying time at the national championships in Gqeberha on Thursday morning as he finished fastest in the 100m backstroke.

Coetzé cruised across the Newton Park pool to finish in 53.05 sec, comfortably inside the 53.74 standard to earn selection for the Paris Games later this year.

US-based Ruard van Renen was second quickest in a 54.22 best, needing to find another half-a-second in the evening final to book his ticket to the showpiece.

Coetzé’s effort was quicker than what he delivered at the world championships in Doha in February, swimming a 53.09 in the semifinals.

But he has some way to go to beat the 52.78 African record he set at the national championships last year.

The world lead this year so far is American Hunter Armstrong’s 52.68 and the bronze medal at Tokyo 2020 was won in 52.19.

In the women’s 100m backstroke Milla Drakopoulos was fastest in 1:02.66.

Dakota Tucker was quickest in the women’s 400m individual medley in 4 min 47.95 sec, a personal best by almost a second.

Kian Keylock set the pace in the men’s race in 4:36.11 in the absence of Matthew Sates, who scratched from the race.

Callan Lotter was fastest in the women’s 400m freestyle by a large margin, completing her heat in a 4:19.18 best.

Adrian van Wyk and Matthew Caldwell were the only ones dipping under four minutes in the men’s 400m freestyle, going 3:59.41 and 3:59.89 respectively.