South African backstroker Pieter Coetze secured four medals, including two golds, at the opening leg of the 2026 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan, News24 reported.
Record-Breaking Swim in the 100m Backstroke
Coetze captured gold in the men’s 100m backstroke on Saturday by clocking 49.11 seconds. The performance shattered his own previous African record of 49.35 seconds set in 2024 by 0.24 seconds.
Trailing Russia’s Pavel Samusenko into the final turn, Coetze surged ahead in the closing meters to touch first. Samusenko took silver in 49.24 seconds, while American Shaine Casas finished third with a time of 49.89 seconds.
“I’m very happy with that. I just wanted to get the win and it’s a good time, too, so I’ll take it,” Coetze said. “I got some feedback, I’m going to look at the videos and tweak what I need to tweak, and hopefully, I can improve.”
Silver and Bronze Across Multiple Events
The South African star also claimed silver in the men’s 50m backstroke, tying with Russia’s Pavel Samusenko at 22.51 seconds. Russia’s Egor Kornev won that race in a World Cup record time of 22.23 seconds.
In the men’s 100m individual medley, Coetze picked up a bronze medal in 51.60 seconds. American Luke Barr won the event in 51.57 seconds, just ahead of compatriot Shaine Casas at 51.58 seconds.
Opening his campaign after a slow heat swim on Thursday, Coetze won the men’s 200m backstroke in 1:49.84. Canada’s Blake Tierney finished second in 1:50.74, and Russia’s Dmitrii Savenko took third in 1:51.10.
“I took a long time off after the Commonwealth Games, and the last time I raced short course was about two years ago,” Coetze said. “I’m glad I could start off with a win.”
Team South Africa Medals in Baku
Coetze sits third in the overall Swimming World Cup men’s standings with 55.6 points. Teammember Michael Houlie added a silver medal for South Africa in the men’s 50m breaststroke, finishing in 25.70 seconds behind China’s Qin Haiyang, who clocked 25.67 seconds.
Aimee Canny secured a bronze medal for South Africa in the women’s 100m breaststroke with a time of 1:05.16. Ireland’s Mona McSharry won the race in 1:04.21, with Russia’s Evgeniia Chikunova taking silver in 1:05.13.
The second leg of the Swimming World Cup series takes place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, from October 8 to 10, before concluding in Astana, Kazakhstan, from October 15 to 17.
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