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BAKU, Azerbaijan — South African swimming sensation Pieter Coetze delivered a masterclass at the first stop of the 2026 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup in Baku, securing four medals and setting a new African record as Team SA closed out the weekend with an impressive six-medal haul.
The 13-athlete South African contingent used the short-course (25m) meet in Azerbaijan to kick off their international season, with many targeting peak form ahead of December’s World Short Course Championships in Beijing.
Coetze's Backstroke Dominance
The 22-year-old Coetze was the standout performer for South Africa, picking up two golds, a silver, and a bronze. His crowning achievement came in the Men’s 100m Backstroke final, where he scorched to victory in a blistering 49.11 seconds. The lifetime-best swim not only secured the gold medal but also shattered the African short-course record, elevating him into the top 20 fastest performers of all time worldwide in the event.
Coetze completed his backstroke double with a commanding win in the 200m event, touching the wall in 1:49.64 to finish more than a second ahead of Canada’s Blake Tierney. He rounded out his backstroke campaign with a silver in the 50m dash (22.51), narrowly edged out by Russia’s Egor Kornev (22.23). Proving his versatility, Coetze also grabbed a hard-fought bronze in the Men’s 100m Individual Medley, clocking 51.60 in a tight finish against American duo Luke Barr and Shaine Casas.
Houlie and Canny Add to the Tally
Beyond Coetze’s heroics, the South African squad saw strong performances from its breaststroke specialists.
Michael Houlie claimed a superb silver in the Men’s 50m Breaststroke. Houlie stopped the clock at 25.70, just three-hundredths of a second behind China’s Haiyang Qin, holding off a stacked field that included Russian and Dutch challengers.
On the women’s side, Aimee Canny carried her excellent Commonwealth Games form into the new season, securing bronze in the Women’s 100m Breaststroke. Canny touched in 1:05.16, trailing only Ireland’s Mona McSharry and Russia’s Evgeniia Chikunova, and narrowly edging out fellow South African Rebecca Meder, who finished a commendable fourth (1:05.52).
The Road Ahead
The South African squad in Baku featured a mix of established stars and rising talent, including Guy Brooks, Matthew Caldwell, Dune Coetzee, Reuban Haylock, Riley Hemphill, Shannon Hugo, Baile Lambert, Daena Robinson, and Nicholas Trower.
The team will now shift its focus to the remaining two stops of the World Cup series. The action moves to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, from October 8-10, before concluding in Astana, Kazakhstan, from October 15-17. These rapid-fire meets will provide crucial racing experience as the athletes fine-tune their preparations for the global championships at the end of the year.
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