Coetze sets up backstroke medal chance

Rising star Pieter Coetze will be chasing his first senior world title this evening after qualifying among the favourites for the 100m backstroke final at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha.

The 19-year-old prospect was second-fastest in last night’s semifinals, touching the wall in 53.07 seconds. He was just 0.03 slower than American Hunter Armstrong, who turned out in a separate semifinal race.

Coetze had been quickest in the first-round heats in the morning session, clocking 53.32.

Meanwhile, Erin Gallagher (above) finished seventh in the women’s 100m butterfly final in 57.83.

On Sunday, 25-year-old Gallagher had broken the African record in the first-round heats, clocking 57.59, to clip 0.05 off her own continental mark of 57.64 which she set when she grabbed the silver medal at last year’s World Student Games in Chengdu.

Admitting afterwards she had stunned herself with her result, she went on to touch the wall in 57.92 in the semifinals to book her spot in last night’s medal contest.

“I really didn’t expect to swim a best time and break the African record. That was a really big treat for me,” Gallagher said.

“Being the first race of the gala, with the nerves and breaking the ice, sometimes you can have a bit of a rusty swim and you realise what you need to work on, so to see that African record next to my time was a really big shock for me.”

In other events in the pool yesterday, Lara van Niekerk was eliminated in the 100m breastsroke semifinals, taking 13th place overall in 1:07.25, and Matthew Sates crashed out in the 200m freestyle heats, settling for 27th position in 1:47.98.

Milla Drakopoulos was 26th overall in the women’s 100m backstroke heats in 1:02.80 and Stephanie Houtman was 18th in the first round of the women’s 1 500m freestyle in 16:35.39.

In Sunday night’s evening session in the pool, there was also disappointment for veteran swimmer Chad le Clos, who bombed out in the men’s 50m butterfly semifinals.

After winning his heat in 23.47 in the morning, Le Clos settled for a lowly 16th position eventually in the semifinals in a time of 23.68.