Coetzé, Canny maintain pool dominance as Corbett joins Games qualifier list

Kaylene Corbett became the seventh Commonwealth Games qualifier at the national championships in Gqeberha on Thursday night, but she did it finishing second to the gala’s most prolific party crasher, Aimee Canny.

The US-based student — who stunned the favourites in the 100m breaststroke and the 200m individual medley earlier in the competition while also reclaiming the 200m freestyle title she took in 2024 — tailed Corbett for three laps and then attacked over the final length to snatch the win at the wall in 2min 23.61sec.

Corbett, the world championship bronze medallist, was just 11-hundredths of a second behind, with defending champion Rebecca Meder third in 2:27.36.

“Training has been going really well so I’m super happy that it’s kind of paying off in the pool,” said Canny, who flies back to the University of Virginia to pick up her economic studies, perhaps to the relief of her rivals continuing to compete over the final two days of swimming here.

“On that last wall I knew she [Corbett] was ahead of me and I knew it was my last event so I just kind of gave it everything I could.”

Corbett — who has won many silvers behind the now-retired Tatjana Smith and then Meder last year — said she had attempted a new strategy.

I messed up my dive a little bit. I don’t know what it was, I feel like my hands maybe split a bit on the dive, but I’m glad I recovered
— Pieter Coetzé

“[I was] seeing how fast I can go out, trying to set the pace that I need to go. I knew that Becky and Aims were going to come back hard in the second hundred so I just tried to hold on with everything I had.

“She just out-touched me, but that’s the name of this game and you should be able to take these things on the chin,” added Corbett.

World 100m backstroke champion Pieter Coetzé was the only other swimmer to achieve a qualifying time on the night as he won the men’s 100m freestyle in 48.18. That was also the fastest time in SA, lowering the 48.63 he swam last year, although he suggested he might have gone faster.

“I messed up my dive a little bit,” said Coetzé, who turned in 23.03. “I don’t know what it was, I feel like my hands maybe split a bit on the dive, but I’m glad I recovered.

“I knew I wanted to be out fast. I want to be sub-23 going out because that’s what the top guys are doing and I was hoping to be out under 23, but happy with that,” added Coetzé, who has a 47.88 personal best in this event.

Erin Gallagher finished strong to touch first in the women’s 100m freestyle in 55.12, just five-hundredths of a second ahead of Olivia Nel. Jessica Thompson was third in 55.50, a fraction ahead of Caitlin de Lange (55.51) and Michaela de Villiers (55.55).

“When I was coming back I literally couldn’t see anyone, I could only see Jess. I knew that we were all going to be so close together so I think I just closed my eyes for the last 20 metres. I didn’t breathe for the last like 10. My legs are literally broken,” Gallagher said with a laugh.

The qualifying mark was 54.25.

“I think a lot of us said earlier we would have liked to have gone under 55, but at the end of the day it’s race practice and I don’t doubt that when we get to Commonwealth our relay team is going to be very, very fast.”

In other action, Shaun Thomas won the men’s 200m breaststroke in 2:15.00, Karl Albertyn took the men’s 400m IM in 4:24.83 and Catherine van Rensburg the women’s IM in 4:56.26.

The gala ends on Saturday.

The qualifiers so far for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow from July 23 to August 2 are:

Men: